The House of Hell
by Love2Love
Summary: The WWNC thinks it's a great idea to start a reality show with an unwilling group of magical teenagers before their seventh year at Hogwarts. Hermione does not. Enter a pointy faced blond with his two close friends and let Hell-er, the summer, begin.
1. Welcome

**Author's Note: (2012) There comes a point in the life of every fanfiction author where the time between the first and most recently updated chapter is so great that the difference in writing causes intense cringing and he or she cannot take it any longer. For me, that point is now. I'm editing this chapter so it better represents the story as a whole, and will hopefully be able to do the same to some of the next few chapters, as well.**

**I'd also like to post fair warning—I got a few reviews about this a while ago, but for those of you starting this story now: it is basically as if I lifted the entire Harry Potter situation and dropped it in around the year 2010/2011. There are references to books, music, and technology that either did not exist or was not used as much in the 90s, when the Harry Potter books are actually set. **

**Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter**

Hermione watched as Hogwarts became a small speck in the distance and then settled back against her seat in their compartment of the Hogwarts Express. Their sixth year had just ended and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were heading back to London and, for her, the muggle world. This was her first summer that she could legally cast spells and she was both excited and nervous to show her parents some of the things she could do.

She turned back to her two best friends, just catching the last bit of Ron's chatter about being able to get back at his brothers now that he could use magic, too. Harry laughed half-heartedly, staring out the window, and Hermione vowed to talk to Ron about how quickly he could be moved to The Burrow.

"Ron," she frowned at him. "You're allowed to do magic because they think you're mature enough, not so you can settle your childhood scores."

Ron shrugged. "I'm only saying, now I can do what the twins did and bug the hell out of them. Just wait Harry, there's not that long until your birthday!"

"I suppose so," Harry said with a shrug. "Time in the summer passes so much slower. At least I know Malfoy is in the same boat as me. Can't go around wreaking havoc on innocent people."

"Same goes for Neville," Ron said with a snicker, "Although for different reasons."

Hermione frowned again, "Neville has come a long way this year! He's much less clumsy than he used to be. He's really come into his own, and you know he may challenge you two next year."

"Hermione, we were just teasing. You know, that thing normal people like to do instead of read big books and learn new spells?" Ron rolled his eyes at her, shooting a pleased grin in Harry's direction when he laughed. "Hey, Harry did you hear about the last Cannons' game? It wasn't their best but—"

"I hate to break it to you, Ron, but I don't think the Cannons have a best." Harry said with a straight face, ducking to avoid the licorice wand thrown his way.

"It's a good thing you're not playing a _real_ Quidditch position, Weasley." Draco Malfoy shouldered into their compartment, a smirk gracing his pale lips. Behind him in the hall stood Crabbe and Blaise Zabini, his bored eyes flicking between them all like they were two very boring paintings on an otherwise blank wall. "Your aim is terrible."

"Keeper is a real position, Malfoy." Harry said hotly, glaring. "Not that you'd know much about real playing, since it can't be bought with daddy's money."

"At least my family's _got_ some money," he snapped, turning his eyes back to Ron. "Hey, Weasley, are you going to fix up that crackpot house of yours now that you can do magic?"

Ron's ears reddened. "Sod off, Malfoy."

Draco chuckled softly. "Oh, right. I forgot that you're too stupid to do real magic anyway."

Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously, and his hand clenched his wand tightly. "If you're here to insult us, you can leave."

"Why else would I be here, to have a tea party?" Draco snickered, and then his eyes scanned the compartment once more, trying to find something to insult. His eyes fixed on Hermione. "I certainly wouldn't want anyone to think I enjoy the mudblood's company."

"Take it back." Harry's voice had gotten quiet and he stood, his wand clenched in his hand and raised slightly from his body.

"Harry, Ron, leave it. It's only a word." Hermione said, not sure if she should keep an eye on her friends and make sure they didn't do anything rash or on Malfoy to anticipate how far he was trying to push them. "Malfoy, you can leave. You're not going to get anything worthwhile from here, except maybe a case of purple warts."

Draco's grey eyes surveyed her and he drew his lips back in a sneer. "Probably. Good thing being a blood traitor isn't contagious, or our entire year would be doomed."

"Malfoy!" Ron's face was flushed a deep crimson and his wand whipped up to point straight at Draco's face. "I'm feeling generous, so I'm going to give you _five_ seconds to get out of here before I curse you into oblivion!"

"If I suspended disbelief for a few seconds and actually believed that you're capable of magic beyond the level of first year I still wouldn't be threatened by you, Weasley." Draco said coolly, but he was eyeing the wand pointed at his face and had edged back to the door, bringing himself closer to Crabbe. "Nevertheless, I must be off. Unlike you sorry lot, I actually have people who want to see me."

"Mudblood." He nodded over his shoulder in her direction just after he'd stepped through the door and disappeared down the corridor. For a moment she thought Ron was going to chase after him but, after letting out a long, deep huff of air he simply sat down.

"One day I'm going to kill him." Ron muttered and, after noticing Hermione open her mouth to say something, went on. "No, it would be worth it. He's a dumb prick, Hermione, and you know it."

"Ron, please. We're adults now, you can't just go around spouting off statements about killing people. You know how tense people are, someone someday will take it the wrong way," she shrugged and lifted her hands when he opened his mouth to say something. "I'm just saying. Watch what you say."

"I'm not sure being an adult is all it's cracked up to be. Hermione." Something in Harry's voice made them look over quickly. A tawny owl flew through the open window and landed in Harry's lap. It had a letter with the initials WWNC, representing the wizarding world's leading channel, emblazoned on the top.

The first letter he'd gotten from them had asked if they could interview him. He'd refused. The next one had suggested a documentary called, 'A Day in The Life of Harry Potter.' He'd also refused that. Then they'd asked about a movie that he could star in and would feature all his adventures. Ron and Hermione would be replaced by more suitable and aesthetically pleasing candidates, of course. Once again he'd refused.

Harry's face went red and he started to crumple up the letter, ignoring the way the owl had started to bounce around on his lap. Hermione grabbed it from his hand and smoothed it out, skimming it quickly while Ron read over her shoulder and Harry silently stewed in the corner. The first few paragraphs were full of compliments and so closely resembled some of the more childish fan-mail Harry had received that Hermione snorted. The very last requested that he allowed them to make a reality television show and follow him around everywhere because they were getting so many questions about him and 'the viewers are desperate to know more about the life of a teen hero.'

They obviously didn't know anything about Harry and made the same judgment others often did when confronted by his huge fame—assumed he loved it. In addition to their aggressive compliments and attempts at stroking an unwilling ego they'd made it all too clear that they wanted to pry deeply into his life. When they were both done Hermione flicked her wand and burned the letter into a crisp.

"Damn, I hate when people write to me to tell me how amazing I am." Ron said, trying to lighten the now very damp mood that had settled over them.

"I don't understand why people enjoy prying into the lives of others so much. Do they have nothing better to do? Are they _that _bored all the time?" Harry opened the window a little wider and nudged the owl towards it.

"Harry," Hermione said as gently as possible, "It's natural for people to want to know about you. You've already accomplished so much, and loads of people really respect you. I'm sure the WWNC is being so insistent because they've been getting a lot of demands."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I'd rather live with Malfoy then be on a reality show."

"Be careful," Hermione warned, "They might make that happen."

Ron snorted. "And who's going to tell them, the owl?"

"Remember Rita? People have a way of getting what they want." Hermione shrugged as Harry lifted the owl, frowning at its reluctance to leave.

Their conversation was pulled to a close when Harry cursed loudly. The owl wouldn't let go of his finger and the pressure punctured his skin and a drop of blood formed around the owl's talons. It screeched and took off out the window.

"Bloody owl!" Harry muttered as he nursed his finger. Their conversation gradually turned to their expected reunion at the Burrow, which would likely happen earlier than usual because Hermione's family wasn't traveling this summer. By the time they reached the station, all thoughts about the letter and the owl were gone.

* * *

"So, did anything interesting happen this year?" Hermione's mother, Jane, asked as their car drove down the road. Hermione could tell that she was looking for a specific type of answer that involved boys, but pretended to be ignorant of it.

"I can do magic all the time, now." She replied brightly, gazing as familiar houses zipped by in blurs of red brick and gravel drives.

"Oh, right! How lovely," Jane said, smiling over her shoulder. "Actually, could you maybe fix the petunias, they're looking a little dreary this summer. So are the tulips, they could use some-"

"Mom," Hermione said disapprovingly, "Magic is a science, not used to fix flowers. Besides there are too many muggl- I mean, non-magic folk around."

Chris chuckled, his eyes meeting hers in the mirror, and Jane looked disappointed. "What about in the dark? Everyone would be asleep, and it would be so nice to have them bloom so nicely like they used to!"

"If the neighbours woke up and saw a dark figure hanging around our lawn, they would probably call the police," Hermione said with the shake of her head. "Besides, I don't know many household charms anyway."

"I suppose that's true. So, is there anything else we should know about?" Jane asked, obviously not referring to anything magical.

"I can apparate, as well." Hermione said, although she'd already owled her parents to tell them when she'd passed her test. Jane's face fell slightly, and Hermione hoped she wouldn't start asking about Viktor again to try and segue into a conversation about other eligible boys, including ones 'a little closer to home and ready to settle down.'

"Sounds like you had a good year," Chris said, reaching out to pat his wife's hand. He wasn't bothered at all by Hermione's reluctance to date, and probably wouldn't be if it continued for another decade.

There was a short silence, and then—"Harry's a nice boy, isn't he?"

"Mum, Harry and I are _friends_." Hermione said as her dad pulled into their driveway. She opened the car door and Crookshanks shot out in a streak of ginger, disappearing into the back garden.

"I was just inquiring after him!" Jane said, opening the hatch and pulling out Hermione's trunk.

"Of course you were," Hermione hefted her purse over her shoulder. "It's a miracle I grew up independent from boys at all, with the way you're so preoccupied."

They dragged her luggage into the house, accidentally crushing a small bed of daffodils when one of the trunks went rogue. "You know I just worry about you sacrificing typical teenage experiences—"

"I go to a co-ed boarding school. If anything, that should worry you." Hermione informed her, hugging her parents once more when they'd brought everything in. Chris put on the kettle and Hermione disappeared upstairs, using the one hour time her parents usually gave her to get used to the idea of being home before they started insisting on really catching up. Too often this included detailed accounts about the lives of their patients and who was now going to university and who'd gotten pregnant and moved in with their boyfriend, so Hermione was somewhat eager to put it off.

Hermione's bedroom looked the same as it always had. Baby pink walls that hadn't been repainted since she'd been born, a queen sixed bed, an oak dresser and a few bookshelves crammed from top to bottom. A desk was in the corner with a computer and phone on it, and their living room's old television was perched atop a table so it rested parallel to her bed. Her walk in closet, which her mother was ridiculously enthused about, was used mostly as extra storage for her books.

With the help of her wand she had everything unpacked and put away in record time. Her old teddy bear lay atop her bed and she gazed at it fondly as she turned the computer, deciding not to delay in her usual just-returned-home tasks. She had a few emails from her only childhood friend who, for some reason, had refused to give up keeping in contact with Hermione even though she barely got to see her. Although she'd told her several times that she couldn't access email during her academic year, Andrea still sent her the occasional email with news from home so when she returned home she could read it.

Dinner with her parents was a deliciously home cooked meal and, while the House Elves did excellent jobs and insisted it was done willingly and with joy, eating food her own father had prepared never failed to fill her with the warmth of home. They chatted about her classes and whether or not she had any idea what she wanted to do after school—a few, none concrete—and then drank tea.

She retired to her room a short while later and set about emailing back Andrea, jumping when the doorbell rang. No one usually came to their house on the day Hermione came home because they usually assumed it was 'family time,' and because their entire street communicated a lot they always knew when she was returning. Jane's voice floated up the stairs, followed by another that belonged to a man she didn't know, and the door closed.

Hermione glanced outside, shrugging inwardly when she couldn't see the car, and went back writing out a return email. She was interrupted by the appearance of a chat window.

**Andrea: hi sweets. welcome home xoxo**

_Hermione: Thanks!_

**Andrea: feel weird to be away from dorm?**

_Hermione: So weird. But we should talk more in person, msn is so impersonal._

**Andrea: ur the only one who thinks that, just fyi. do u have a bf yet?**

Hermione rolled her eyes. Andrea literally asked her that question every single break she came home, and the answer was _always _the same.

_Hermione: No, it's not exactly my first priority. You?_

**Andrea: yea! remember todd scott? he's so gorgeous now, wait until you see him.**

Andrea added Todd to their conversation and Hermione tensed. He'd always teased Hermione and, although it had never been very malicious, he came from a very privileged background and wasn't afraid to shove it in other peoples' faces. He reminded her a lot of Draco Malfoy, except as a muggle, and with their latest encounter still under her skin she wasn't feeling all that great about reacquainting over a silly chat service.

**Andrea: hey bb, its hermione! remember her?**

Todd: duh! could never forget that bushy hair and shit lol 

**Andrea: todd, plz don't be rude to her.**

_Hermione: It's alright, Andrea. I have to go anyway, I'm really tired._

Todd: u c! all good. she knows ppl don't like her cuz she's not pretty. no offence lol

_Hermione: Todd you haven't seen or talked to me in years, so you're not really qualified to make that decision. If we're going on our last impressions of each other, yours is not so favorable either, so at the very least don't be so hypocritical. _

The only reply she got back from Todd was so jumbled and full of swear words she didn't try to decode it, instead reading Andrea's invitation to her annual summer party with a grimace and quickly made up an excuse to leave the conversation. As much as she liked Andrea, she wasn't the kind of girl who Hermione imagined as her lifelong friend and when she was around boys she liked she tended to act less than intelligent, which Hermione thought was rather an insult to herself and other girls.

Clearing her throat Hermione stood and headed downstairs to get a drink, only to be intercepted by her mother as she descended the stairs. "Hermione? I thought you were in bed."

She smiled, feeling a stab of longing for the Gryffindor Common Room. "Just getting a drink."

"I can get it for you!" Jane said with a smile, stepping up a stair to pat Hermione's arm and try to turn her around. "I've missed taking care of you!"

"Er,right." Hermione said slowly as she climbed, her mind instantly flashing back to the mysterious guest who'd come inside. She wasn't sure if her parents just didn't want her to meet them, or if her mother was just being her usual self.

A few minutes later Jane was carrying a mug into her room and set it down on her desk, pressing a kiss to the top of Hermione's head. "Here you go. Goodnight!"

Hermione was reading a book so she didn't look up when she got the tea, only brought it towards her to take a sip through practice. When the liquid touched her mouth she realized Jane had forgotten to add a teabag and she was drinking hot water and milk. _That definitely surpasses my mother's flake quota of the day. _Hermione stood up and crept to the stairwell, trying to get a good look at their visitor. It was obvious now that the man was supposed to be kept a secret, but she honestly hadn't even recognized the voice so she wasn't sure what the danger of letting her see him was.

When she finally got a good enough look she realized that there were two strangers, a man and woman, both about the same age and in their late 20s. The woman was tan and slim, with midnight black hair, high cheekbones and full lips. The man was very bronzy, with blond highlights and pearly white teeth that seemed to flash under the light. He had a large nose and crinkly brown eyes that were warm. They were dressed alike in rich reds and gold. Something about them was familiar, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

"Well, yes of course we understand your concerns, and we have a list of rules that are enforced strongly." This was the man speaking, his voice smooth and calming like honey.

Hermione heard Jane excuse herself and dashed into the bathroom to avoid being seen, trying not to laugh at the situation she was in. Hogwarts was generally where all her creeping around was supposed to take place. The sound of a coffeepot being taken from the stand floated to her ears and her mother breezed back into the living room.

"Coffee anyone?"

"No thanks."

"Oh no, I'm fine."

"Alright."

A minute and her mother was back in the kitchen. A clink, the sound of a spoon stirring, then Jane walked by again.

"We'll leave the proposal here for you to review, and we would appreciate an answer as early as you can give us. Your full cooperation is much appreciated." The woman was speaking in an airy voice and flicked her hair over her shoulder. They stood and Hermione crept back up the stairs, laying down on her bed as she heard them leaving.

Who were these people?

* * *

A few days later nothing had been explained and any attempts she'd made at questioning her parents had received a few vague deflections and a muttering about patients. One week after she'd arrived home her mother insisted on taking her out shopping and, shaking off the feeling that she was in some kind of teen cliché novel, she got dressed and followed her out the door.

Breakfast had been a modest affair, the only thing out of the ordinary was when Hermione had spilled cheerios and used magic to clean it up. Witnessing a muggle reaction to magic was quite fascinating, because they were both intrigued and mildly in awe of it.

Jane had a selection of stores in an upper class mall that had all kinds of overpriced and unnecessary clothes in it that she liked to take Hermione to. Although she had plenty of clothes Hermione went along with it, both because it made her mother happy and because occasionally she found something she genuinely liked. So really, it was a win-win situation.

They began at a store called _Tres Chic_ and the sales attendants, who by now were accustomed to Jane at least, flitted around in tight fitted black clothing and attempted to offer unneeded assistance every few minutes.

"How about this?" Jane pulled out a little black skirt and a billowing blue blouse, both of which likely costed the same amount as Hermione's entire outfit.

"Or this?" Hermione held up a knee length jean skirt and a navy blue t-shirt.

"But this is so much cuter." Jane put her selection over her arm and gestured for Hermione to put hers down. They went around the store, occasionally Jane snatching things and adding them to the growing pile in her arm, and dismissing most of the things Hermione picked out. Then she pushed her into a changing room and Jane surveyed her critically in every single item of clothing, before they chose the best ones based on what Hermione was willing to wear and what Jane wanted her to be willing to wear, and moved on to the next store.

"You do realize I have plenty of clothes?" Hermione asked as she stared at the workers folding the clothes up and sliding them into cream coloured bags with blue handles.

"Darling you sound like a broken record." Jane took out her money and paid for it. "You and your father do plenty of activities together. It's only fair that you'll shop with me. Besides, you _must_ to be tired of those school uniforms you have to wear."

They left and Jane steered her to the next store. As a child, Jane had never had much money so she always insisted on giving Hermione the things she hadn't been able to have. It was one of the reasons Hermione suffered through playing muggle dress-up—she knew her mother truly enjoyed it and really wanted her daughter to experience being a typical girl.

"Which one?" Jane held up two pairs of shorts-very _short_ shorts that were almost identical.

"I already have shorts." Hermione said flatly. _And they aren't that short._

"Both, then." Jane said smiling. Hermione made a mental note to hide them in the back of her drawers "Hermione, why do you insist on being so negative?"

"I'm not _trying_, I just can't see myself wearing some of the things you've picked out."

Jane placed her pile of clothes on the counter. "I just want to spend some quality time with you, besides, it's more reassuring to go out with you and pick out your clothes. Then I know what you're wearing."

"I'm not going anywhere, mum. We have all summer." Hermione said with a frown and Jane flushed, avoiding her eyes.

"Well Martha's daughter, Sally, just moved out a couple weeks ago and she was seventeen."

Hermione almost laughed at the fumbled response, but couldn't tell exactly how serious she was and didn't push it. "Fine, but let's just keep the purchases reasonable. You know the saying 'every girl should have a little black dress?' Well I have about twelve already."

Jane smiled. "Sounds like a good compromise to me!"

By the time they were in the last shop, one that Hermione and Jane usually never went in because the clothes were all bright colors and extravagant patterns, it was 5:30. Hermione had all their shopping bags shrunk in her pocket for the sake of space and wandered curiously around the store. It was obviously owned by a safety freak as there were literally cameras poised everywhere.

Jane held up the ugliest, brightest, and most outrageous flowery dress she could have imagined. Hermione shook her head quickly and her mother turned to put it back on the shelf.

A hand fell on her shoulder. Before Hermione could react another was over her mouth and someone was dragging her backwards. Her hands were pinned to her sides and she couldn't move or even scream.

Jane was walking slowly away in the opposite direction. She turned and walked quickly to the change rooms, not noticing there was no Hermione to try any clothes on. A black truck (even in the dangerous, not to mention alarming, situation her first thought was _how cliché of them_) was waiting outside and Hermione was shoved into it roughly. Utter darkness closed around her and the engine started up. With a jolt she felt it move and began to fumble to find her wand, which had fallen from her pocket and rolled away.

"Hermione? Don't be afraid, you'll have fun. I know it." A picture of Jane flashed up on the wall and Hermione stared at it, squinting against the suddenly aggressive light.

She sucked in a few deep breaths, using the light of the screen to locate her wand. As soon as it was in her hand she felt instantly better. "How do I know you're my real mother?"

Jane smiled weakly. "They told me you might be like this. Hm. Your favourite colour is green. In grade two you saved the class hamster by telling everyone that he wasn't really vicious, he bit people because he was scared and misunderstood. Then you got really embarrassed about it and pretended you had amnesia. You got your first period on December 27th, six years ago."

Hermione nodded, momentarily reassured, and sat against the wall on the inside of the truck. "What's going on? Why am I in this truck and did you _plan_ this?"

Her mother nodded sympathetically, a smug smile coming over her face. "I can't tell you where you're going because its all part of the plan. Bit dramatic, in my opinion. But I think you'll have lots of fun, so just go along with what they do!" The image disappeared and any light it had given off was gone.

"Mum?" She whispered. There was no answer. If her mother knew where she was going things would be okay, but the more pressing matter was where _was _she going, and why would her mother want her to go there? The Order didn't resort to such unconventional methods of transportation.

The truck stopped. A man was opening the door and helping her out before she could even begin questions she had in her mind. She staggered drunkenly under the light and he held onto her arm, but shook him off and straightened a moment later. Turning to look at him more closely, her mouth fell open.

It was the man she'd seen in her living room.

"Before you say anything I have to tell you that I can't tell you anything. Hello and please follow me, don't try any magic either, I'm quite gifted with a wand myself." He took out a wand and fingered it, all the while smiling. Somehow, Hermione was seriously doubting it. Then his smile disappeared and the hurriedly polite tone of his voice disappeared. "Let's go."

He turned to the door leading into the house and Hermione followed him warily. It was very clear now that there was nothing of malicious intent going on-her mother wouldn't condone it, and he'd obviously consulted her first. The man was leading her to a large two story white brick house. Lush green grass covered the lawn and perfectly shaped trees provided shade from the sun.

"Coming?" The man asked, and instead of opening the neon green door he waited until she reached out to grab it. When she touched it the color changed to white.

He smiled. "This way." He led her through a long hallway and into another door.

"Here we are." She heard a female voice from across the room and turned her head towards it. She came face to face with Blaise Zabini, whose clothes were rumpled and was holding his wand in his hand at his side. Their eyes met and his widened.

"Welcome to the House of Hell."

**Author's Note: Review review review!**


	2. Arrivals

**Author's note (2012): This was next on my edit to do list, so I've gone through and rewritten a bit, recharacterized a tad, etc. All the important things are the same!**

**Author's Note: As promised, here are my reviewers! I love you guys!**

charmedatwriting Aya-Chan4861 dustypants HRInuyashaFan16

**Disclaimer-I don't own any of the rights to Harry Potter.**

"Er, what?" She asked, her expression of complete confusion mirrored in Blaise's face.

"I'm sorry but we are unable to reveal any information at the current time." She and Blaise were being pulled to another door, which the man beside her opened, and they were both being forcefully pushed inside.

"Ouch!" A voice yelled as Blaise grunted, presumably as a result of some form of contact. The room was completely dark and Hermione felt for the wall, resting the palm of her hand against it for some kind of stability.

"Pansy?" Blaise spluttered, his voice moving a bit further away.

"Blaise?" The voice of Pansy Parkinson cried. "Oh thank Merlin there's someone else here I thought I was going insane!" There was shuffling.

"You're insane." Blaise muttered. "Granger's here too."

"Granger? Where?" Hermione stayed silent, unwilling to expose herself when she wasn't entirely certain what kind of reception she would receive.

"Do you have any idea why we're here? Or how to get out?" The desperation in Pansy's voice made it clear that, at least for the moment, she didn't have bad intentions.

"No." Hermione answered, somewhat sarcastically. "If I knew, do you really think I'd still be here?"

"I've been here so long." Pansy groaned in frustration.

"We're all very sorry for you." Hermione said and couldn't keep from smiling when she heard a snigger.

"Shut up, Zabini!" Pansy snarled. She seemed to stumble and Blaise sniggered again. "Oof!"

She felt movement close beside her and if she really strained, she thought she could see the outline of Blaise's body.

"Blaise? Draco will not be pleased when he hears how you've been treating me!"

Blaise snorted. "Of course he won't. He'll been downright _happy_." The way he said this implied that Draco wasn't happy very often.

"Well, we're friends so piss off!"

"So are we!" Blaise countered.

"Are you two honestly fighting over Malfoy's affection? I didn't think he could feel anything. Or is that the point?" Hermione's voice was etched with disgust.

"No." Blaise said shortly. No one had anything to say anymore, so no one said spoke. She leaned against the wall and slid into a sitting position on the floor. Soon after she heard Blaise and Pansy do the same.

The minutes ticked by in what felt more like hours. Heat started to penetrate her skin, and her back was cramped from being hunched over for so long. She didn't dare try to use magic. The man had said he was gifted with his wand, what if the room exploded or something? It couldn't be long until someone came and got them right?

Blaise started tapping his fingers against the floor and formed different rhythms. _Tap tap tap bang tap tap tap bang tap-bang tap-bang. _She found herself amused by these, but Pansy snapped at him to quit being a moron and he stopped.

A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead and she hastily wiped it away. Her shirt was damp and clung to her back. That was when she decided she'd had enough. She took out her wand and made a small wind pass through the room, crossing the fingers on her left hand and hoping she didn't blow them up. To her relief she cooled down, but was then annoyed by her cramped back, and the fact that she hadn't eaten very much in the entire day besides a bagel.

If Pansy and Blaise felt anything they said nothing, but Hermione was quite content with the calm breeze. Then it occurred to her that maybe they hadn't charmed the room against magic and she attempted a few other spells, but found that they didn't work.

"Damn it." A cool voice said and someone was pushed through the door. Light flashed off pale blonde hair and Hermione's heart sank. Just what she needed. Malfoy. He stumbled to a wall and kicked it experimentally.

"Draco? Thank Merlin!" Pansy sighed as she scrambled to her feet.

"Pansy?" He sounded surprised. "Why are you here?"

Pansy sighed exasperatedly. "If I knew I don't think I'd still be here. I was hoping you would."

There was a pause. "I thought I did but I guess I don't." He sounded confused, but there was something different too. "How long have you been here?"

"I was here for a really long time before Blaise, but I'd estimate about an hour." Pansy said.

"Blaise is here?"

"Present." Blaise said lazily.

Draco was silent for a minute. "Well, there's a breeze coming in so there must be a window or something."

"It's not a real breeze, actually. It's a spell." Blaise sounded uneasy. He gave a dry chuckle, "Granger."

"What?" Hermione immediately realized what had been different. He didn't sound like he wanted to kill her. "Where?"

"Draco come on. We're in a bad enough spot without a murder on our hands." Pansy said, and Hermione was pretty sure she was joking.

"Don't be ridiculous, Pansy." Draco snapped irritably. "Lumos." Nothing happened. "Lumos. Lumos. Damn this. There must be some curse."

"Did anyone say anything to you when you came in here?" Blaise asked.

"Yes, some woman said 'welcome to the House of Hell.'"

"Pansy?"

"The same, but why does it matter?" She sounded puzzled.

"Because if they all said the same thing it must mean something. I feel like I've heard that phrase before. House of Hell…" Blaise muttered impatiently.

"I suppose." Pansy said, and it occurred to Hermione that Blaise and Pansy weren't exactly on the best footing with each other.

She thought over what Blaise had said…House of Hell…it sounded like they were supposed to have an awful time in a house. So why were they in a small little room within a huge mansion? Unless…First there had been Pansy, then Blaise and her, then Draco. Maybe there were more people coming and they were in the room momentarily, as holding place.

But what for?

"Get off me! Let go!" There was a bang and the door flew open and hit the wall. A figure was struggling wildly with four muscled captors. His hands were held up by his head and he couldn't seem to move them at all. His swung back and kicked at the guards, cursing explicitly at them.

One of them threw his wand to the floor and they shoved him violently into the room. He hit the wall and rebounded back to the door, but it was closed.

"Sorry about the delay, man! There's a reason that boy's name is The-Boy-Who-Lived…"

Harry started banging on the door and shouting loudly. "Come back you cowards! Will your master really be happy if I escape? Come back and fight me you pathetic excuse of a man!" He threw himself at the door.

"Harry please, you're going to scream yourself hoarse." Hermione said in what she hoped was a soothing voice.

Immediately he stopped. "Hermione? They got you too?"

"No, they brought me here in a truck for something. Didn't the Dursleys tell you not to worry?" Hermione asked.

"All the more reason to fight back." Harry said stubbornly. "It doesn't surprise me that the Dursleys sold me to Voldemort."

"Harry they didn't sell you to Voldemort. I don't know why we're here, but it has nothing to with him." Hermione said calmly, wondering if Harry could hear the sharp intakes of breath that followed the name.

"How do I know you're not a spy under the Polyjuice potion?" He asked, immediately suspicious.

"Hm…The password to Gryffindor tower at the end of the year was Tuttle Poof, on the train you were annoyed that you couldn't do magic and suggested hanging out with Neville or Malfoy. The owl bit you." She stated calmly, wracking her mind for something she could reveal but would still convince Harry it was really her.

Draco snickered in the corner and Harry immediately tensed up. "Malfoy?"

"Harry, be reasonable. I'm still alive and I've been here with them for awhile, ignore them." She said hurriedly.

"Them?"

"Blaise and Parkinson."

"Who's Blaise? You mean _Zabini_?" Harry asked. It occurred to her that she'd never actually called him by his last name. She pondered this but couldn't come up with any other solution besides that he hadn't really done anything to her. He'd been there, laughed, but never really initiated anything.

"Yes." She answered. "Explain to me what happened to you."

"There's not much to it. I was leaving the Dursleys because we got in another argument, and some guy in black came up behind me and took my wand from my pocket. A black car pulled up and he tried to push me inside. I started fighting back and then two more guys jumped out and shoved me in there, where they held me captive. I couldn't even move a muscle. An image of the Dursleys came up saying 'don't be afraid' and all that bollocks. Like they really care if I'm afraid."

"And then…" Hermione prodded.

"This guy tried to tell me to follow him. I refused and one of the men grabbed me and started dragging me. I pushed him away and started yelling for Voldemort," there was a sharp intake of breath from the corner, "To come and fight me. Then three more guards came and joined him. I tried to escape but it didn't really work."

Hermione thought this over. "What color was the door?"

"The door?" Harry repeated in confusion.

"The door leading into the house, what color was it?" She asked.

"Before they pushed me into it, it was bright green, but when I touched it the color turned to white." Harry replied. "Why?"

She ignored his question and turned to the direction she assumed the Slytherins were. "Parkinson?"

"Neon green until I touched it."

"Bla-bini. Zabini."

"The same. And it's not Blabini. It's Blaise or Zabini, you choose." He said dryly.

"Malfoy?"

"What do you expect me to say? No? There's clearly a pattern here."

She thought this newfound information over, ignoring Draco's barbed comments. "Whatever is going to happen must have something to do with _us_ touching the door. There might have been a spell on the house that was set off when we touched it."

Everyone was silent. "I think Granger has a point." Blaise said finally. "But what spell and why?"

"We can't be sure." Pansy piped up.

"Why, thanks Pansy. I never would have come up with that on my own." Harry snickered at Blaise's response, but the group lapsed once more into thoughtful silence. A few minutes later a head of red hair was shoved through the open door.

"Bastards! Come back! Too scared to take on a seventeen year old?" Ron shouted as he banged on the door.

"Ron!" Hermione couldn't stop the admonishment from passing through her lips.

"Hermione?"

"Not this again." Draco said with an exasperated sigh.

"Malf-"

"Ron," she sighed "Harry, Parkinson, Malfoy, Blaise and I are stuck in here." Hermione said, expecting him to blow up.

"Who's Blaise? You mean _Zabini_?"

Harry chuckled as Hermione sighed again. "Yes."

"But wh-" Hermione shushed Ron as the doorknob jiggled and it began to open.

"Nobody move." The man that had brought Hermione in said. "_Petrifico_." He opened the door widely. "There, now you can't run. Come along."

No one moved. Hermione's eyes became accustomed to the light and then Harry stepped forward into the hallway.

Flagged by Hermione and Ron, he followed him through a door into a room that was completely white. The walls were white, the carpet was white, the furniture was white, even the woman, who Hermione recognized as the one who'd been in her house. was dressed in white.

"My name is James Giovani, this is my wife, Sheila Giovani. Many of you may know us from the WWNC. The Witches and Wizards News Channel. I was told Dumbledore gave all Hogwarts students a Wcube? You tap your wand on it and you get Wizards Channels projected onto it? Yes, well that is how our show is broadcasted." James smiled around at them all, looking especially golden when surrounded by all the white.

Instantly Harry was on his feet. "I said _no_ interview!"

Sheila smiled in a chilling way. "Oh, this isn't an interview. Or a movie or a documentary, so really you haven't refused it yet. Now please sit down so we can explain everything." He sat reluctantly.

"Take a look at this!" James took out his Wcube and tapped it with his wand. _Hello James. _It said as it whirred to life. "Hello Charlotte." He chuckled.

"He's off his rocker." Ron muttered.

A projection played off one of the white walls.

_Four guys…_

_Two girls…_

_One house…_

_One hell of a time…_

_Pansy Parkinson_

_A clip of Pansy strutting purposefully forward came up and a smile played her lips. _It zoomed in on her face and locked.

_Blaise Zabini_

_Blaise flashed a smile, grinning at someone that was off camera. _Once again the camera zoomed in a locked on his face.

_Hermione Granger_

_There was Hermione wearing the first outfit her mother had picked out, smiling sheepishly. _

_Draco Malfoy_

_Draco opened his mouth and shouted something then turned and punched the wall beside him. He shouted again and walked away. _

_Harry Potter_

_Harry slammed the door to the Dursleys's house and stormed down the street. The camera froze on his furious face._

_Ron Weasley_

_Ron grinned and his ears turned bright red.._

_The show that will be talked about for ages…_

_There was Hermione following James into the house…Blaise climbing out of the truck…Pansy flashing an angry look…Ron being dragged from the truck…Draco walking forward determinedly…Harry fighting off four guards..._

_The screen divided into six sections. One hand touched the neon green section of the door (in Harry's case his face) and the door changed to white. Six pairs of eyes came onto the screen with their own individual section._

_It showed them all being shoved into the little room and then Sheila and James appeared on the screen._

_The House of Hell…_

_A picture came up of them on the screen all standing in a cautious stance. Harry was across from Draco, Hermione from Pansy, and Ron from Blaise. They were glaring at their opposite._

"These are the faces of today's hottest TV wizarding stars." Sheila said, as Hermione mused over the fact that the pictures of them glaring were actually real, and not a result of computer animation.

"I said no TV show." Harry said angrily.

James shrugged. "You gave us an inspiration. We simply couldn't pass down the opportunity."

Hermione stared as it hit her. "You're an animagus! You were that owl."

James looked shocked, and then he chuckled. "Right you are, sweetie. You can't go reporting this to the Ministry though, I'm certified."

She thought back to when she'd been looking at the list of registered animagus, and…yes. James Giovani had been on there.

"So Harry m'boy, you said you'd rather live in a house with Malfoy then be on a reality TV show. That was our inspiration, and you can't back out now, when you touched the door you basically 'signed the contract'. The network felt that a new type of entertainment was needed because the few shows that have actually been around aren't doing terribly well. This industry is still growing, and this show will play an important part of it."

"Now, Harry, please refrain from saying anything or I may have to make you stop." James took out his wand and grinned.

In a flash Hermione had her wand out and pointed at him. "You do and you can be charged with an attack. Harry can't legally do magic outside Hogwarts, so he can't defend himself. We could bring this to court, and I can safely say none of us like you very much, we'd all testify against you. Who do you think people will believe, you or Harry Potter?"

James gaped at her. "You just made that up."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "I've read 'The Guide to Power,' 'Rise to Power', 'The Ministry of Magic', 'Think You've Got a Case?' the list goes on."

James hastily put his wand away. "You've got yourself a good bodyguard there." James said to Harry.

"She's not my bodyguard. She's the brightest witch of our age, and she's my friend." Harry snapped defensively and Hermione flushed.

"Right, well I think we should explain everything now, because I sense Harry is getting a teeny bit antsy." James said and turned to Sheila. "So we'll air this part, we should change." They both took out their wands and transformed their clothes into matching royal blue robes.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"As you know you are now stars of the new show, 'The House of Hell.' You're confined to this mansion, and only one of you can leave at a time for four hours maximum. There are spells everywhere that enforce all these rules, so don't try to break them unless you fancy the consequences." He beamed as he said that.

"Each of you can invite one guest in, but you'll have to ask us if you want to have a party. The same goes for breaking any of the rules. The type of party will be specified of course, the gender that can come and the limit of people you can invite."

James grinned. "Anyway, your parents all agreed to sign the contract preventing any of you from breaking the rules. It's physically impossible. You're located by a muggle town that you can access for groceries, entertainment and such. You are prohibited to enter into any wizard's house, and wizard facilities. Your rooms have been checked for any flu powder, and there have been spells placed. By the way, your rooms are exactly the same as they were in your house when you touched the door.

"We've compiled a list of rules and regulations, so here they are." He passed around a sheet of paper.

1) One person can leave the house at a time.

2) They can only leave for about four hours maximum.

3) You cook for yourself and clean up after yourself.

4) You must respect others' personal space.

5) You will each be given a key card to access your room and a few spare lock keys.

6) You cannot apparate inside or outside the house.

"Any questions about the rules?" Sheila looked around and smiled. "Didn't think so."

"Now each room in this house has hidden cameras, with the exception of bathrooms. Each day will be compiled into a show that everyone will be able to see, and starting at 10:00 to 8:00 the next morning you can pay to have a live feed running.

"The doors to your rooms have your pictures on them so they should be easy to find. We have an extensive recreation centre, including a Quidditch pitch, a pool, tennis courts, a gym, a workout room, fencing area, you name it. We have a library half magic half muggle, a kitchen, a lounge, a music room, umm…" Sheila waved her hand as she thought. "a few secret passage ways of course, anything and everything."

They stared blankly at her, most of the given information had rebounded off their heads like light on a mirror. Hermione struggled to get a grasp on everything being shoved in her face.

James grinned. "Now, guards!" He raised his voice and a few of the guards came through. They looked warily at Harry but said nothing.

"Get the packages." They nodded, left and returned carrying two big baskets with a cover over each one. Hermione was handed the one that said her name in loopy cursive.

"Hold your horses now, you can open them in a minute." James said, and then realized none of them had made a move to open them in the first place.

"Okay, so they each contain a few gadgets we felt you might like, color coded for you of course. There's a lap top-"

"I already have a computer." Hermione injected.

"Oh, your parents removed that before you came. It's gone now, along with a few of the clothes your mother disliked." Sheila said and Hermione's heart sank. Her mother didn't like _any_ of the clothes she owned.

"_Anyways_," James continued, looking slightly harassed, "A laptop, the newest cell phone out, an iPod, for the girls a necklace for the boys a gold band that you _must _wear at all times…" he glanced at Sheila.

"Instruction booklets on how to use everything, a map, zip cards, keys, and some muggle money to spend. A few of your guardians gave you some money along with the money we are giving you for your," Sheila paused, "participation. There is also information about the house, telephone number, address and such. Questions?"

"Is this all muggle stuff?" Draco asked with a frown.

"No, we went over everything and magically enhanced it, with permission from the ministry." He added as he looked at Ron, "Anyone else?" James looked around as one would if they were auctioning something off and looking for the highest bidder. "Okay, you can open them now!"

She took off the cover slowly and saw a huge mass of green. Everything was light and dark shades of green, but nothing too vibrant and nothing too dark, the way she liked the color.

"Put your necklace or ring on now." Ordered Sheila.

She looked through everything and found a velvet green box. She undid the clasp and gasped. The necklace had a thin silver chain with a miniscule peridot every inch. At the center was a heart shaped peridot with a stream of diamonds curling around it. It had been magicked to look as though the diamonds were moving themselves and swirling around the heart. She loved it, even though her birthstone was not peridot.

Harry had red, Ron had gold, Pansy had navy blue with a rose instead of a heart, Blaise had silver, and Draco had black.

"Why were these colors chosen for us?" Harry asked as he sorted through the basket.

James shrugged. "They're your favorite color, or suit you best or have some sort of symbolic value to you."

Ron and Harry simultaneously looked at Hermione and her green everything and frowned. "Are you sure? There must be a mistake, Hermione has green."

Sheila shook her head. "There is no mistake. Everything in those baskets was white until you touched it, the guards have gloves on. Perhaps Miss Granger knows why she is green. Green with jealousy maybe, a love triangle?"

Everyone looked at her. "Erm, well green is my favorite color."

"Green! That's a Slytherin color!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron, are you going to go through life hating a color because when you were young it symbolized something you disliked? Honestly, grow up." Hermione snapped. She turned to Sheila and said with a bit of and edge to her voice, "Can you help me put this on please?"

As Sheila fastened the necklace James turned to the others and grinned. "Feisty isn't she?"

Before they could reply Sheila stepped back and smiled. "Perfect! You look absolutely beautiful."

"Are we allowed to go now?" Draco asked boredly.

"Oh, right." Sheila giggled. "Anyway we might drop in once and awhile, so be good." They both nodded enthusiastically and turned to go. When the door closed Hermione almost expected to see fireworks or something.

"Well, I suppose we should find our rooms then." Hermione said nervously. No one moved again. She piled everything back in her basket and stood up. "Let's go you two." She lifted the basket and was surprised by the weight. Ron and Harry didn't seem to notice, but then again how would the world react if they saw the Boy Who Lived have difficulty carrying a basket?

They followed her like lost puppies up the stairs to a floor that was empty except for eight rooms, two of which were bathrooms.

Her room was annoyingly placed between Blaise and Draco's and across from Pansy's, who was between Harry and Ron. She dug through the basket and got out her swipe card and put it through. The light flashed green and the door clicked open. Harry was already inside, but the remainder seemed to be having difficulty opening it. She went over and explained it to Ron, a bit louder than necessary and Pansy caught on too.

"Thanks." He gave her a relieved smile and she waved it off. As she passed Blaise on the way back she muttered to him that his card was upside down. She didn't know why, but she felt strangely pleasant, considering her thundercloud mood only minutes earlier. As was said, her room looked the same as it had before minus the computer and an extra door that led onto a balcony. She set down her things and smiled when she saw a cute purse and a note.

_Honey,_

_We thought you might get a bit tired of carrying everything in a basket or your pocket so we bought you a purse. Have a great time, and write lots to us! Our phone number should be on speed dial in your cell phone._

_Love mom and dad_

_Xoxo_

_P.S Don't forget to unpack your clothes!_

She looked at the few acceptable clothes Jane had let her keep and only found a few pairs of sweatpants, a sweater, and some undergarments. She sighed and dug all the shrunken clothes bags out of her pocket and put them on the bed. When they were enlarged there were much more then she'd expected, enough to fill the entire bed and have a few fall on the floor. She analyzed everything and then started sorting things into piles by type of clothing and color. She hung things in her closet and filled her drawers. With disgust she put stuffed some bikinis and fancy underwear into the back.

In the midst of making her bed someone knocked on the door. She smiled when she opened it. "Hey."

"Hi." Harry greeted.

Ron played it cool and nodded. "D'you want to come downstairs, we're planning to make something to eat?"

She nodded, smiling slightly. "Want to make something or want _me _to make something?"

"I can cook!" Harry said indignantly.

"Harry, mate, don't spread _that _around." Ron muttered with a grin and looked around like someone was going to jump out and yell 'ha!'

"Let's go," she came forward and then caught her door before it closed, "Wait a second."

It only took her a little while to transfer her things into her purse and then she came back out.

"A purse?" Ron asked skeptically.

Hermione rolled her eyes in response. "Yes, Ron, a purse. It has all my things, see?" She unzipped it and held it open so they could see. Ron leaned forward but Harry flinched back and grabbed his shoulder.

"Ron! You never look in a girl's purse!"

"Why?" He asked, "She showed me!" Harry shook his head and Ron frowned. "Right, well let's go." He set off to the stairs and Harry cleared his throat.

"Ron, do you know where we're going?"

Ron looked sheepish. "Right, well, lead the way Hermione!"

She used her map to navigate them, because the house was bigger than they'd expected. The kitchen was found relatively easily though, and had cherry red floors with marble counters, cherry wood cabinets, and baby blue walls.

"So what do you guys want?" She asked and headed to the fridge.

Harry shrugged, "Anything edible, really."

She opened the fridge and sighed. "It's empty."

"_What_!" Ron exclaimed. He ran across the room and stared at the empty shelves in disbelief.

"Well," Harry consulted his watch, "it's 8:30. I don't think there's a possibility of groceries right now."

"I'm going to die." Ron moaned.

"Keep talking like that and I'll make that statement true." Hermione snapped and assessed the situation. "There's an easy solution, we'll order in."

"Order in? What's that?" Ron perked up immediately.

"Muggles use telephones to call places that make food and they deliver it to your house." Hermione explained and dug her card out of her purse. "All they'll need is my name, address and phone number."

She located the phone and found herself facing a new problem. "I don't have a number."

Harry smiled. "Something I can do, then. Dudley always orders from Tomato's pizza, so I know the number by heart. 618-7695."

She dialed and waited. "Hi, may I make an order of three," she looked at Ron, "make that four large pizzas. Pepperoni on all, mushrooms and peppers on one, one with just cheese and pepperoni, and one Hawaiian. My address? Okay, er," she glanced at the card and recited their address. "oh, okay can I get that number? Hold on." As quickly as possible she took a piece of paper and a pencil and scribbled down another phone number. "Oh, no that's fine. Okay, thanks, bye."

"We're out of distance for that one, but they gave me a number for one really close by." She redialed and recited the information again. "Thanks very much. Bye."

"They said it should be here in around fifteen minutes," she said, "so we should find the door and wait around there for a bit."

Her map proved useful and they figured out which door the deliverer would probably go to. They examined some of the nearby rooms and Hermione labeled them with a quick charm she knew. The doorbell rang and they all jumped. There seemed to be a speaker in each room so they could hear the doorbell everywhere in the house.

Hermione reached the door first and opened it find a young man of about 17 or 18. His hair was black and jelled up a bit with the tips dyed red. He had baggy jeans, shaded sunglasses, and a light jacket over a red shirt that had a nametag reading 'Mike.'

"Pizza delivery." He said and smiled when he caught sight of her.

"Thanks. So how much will that be?" She smiled back and blushed a bit. He was good looking, and the way he was looking at her made it seem like he thought she was too.

"Uh…" He glanced at the receipt and scribbled something onto it. "Thirteen pounds."

"That's not very much," she said as she opened her wallet, "is there some sort of sale thing?"

"No, but I gave you a deal for brightening my day a few notches." He said casually.

"Do you use that line often?" She gave a small chuckle, obviously not the response he was looking for.

"Not exactly." He gave her a lopsided smile. "Are you eating this all yourself?"

"Oh, no I don't live here alone." She placed bills in his hand and began counting change.

"I see." He said. "Oh." Ron's head appeared at her shoulder and he had the look of someone putting two and two together.

Hermione caught his meaning and shook her head. "No, it's not like that, we're just friends. A few other… friends from school live here too."

"Oh." He sounded interested now. "Okay, then here you go." He handed her the pizza, which Ron promptly took from her hands. "Call me sometime."

Ron shot him the dirtiest look he could muster while his stomach yelled at him to eat and then slammed the door before Hermione could mention her lack of his phone number. To her relief the cupboards were fully stocked with dishes.

She laid the boxes on the table and smiled when she saw that he'd scribbled his phone number onto the back of the receipt. Maybe the summer wouldn't be so bad after all.

**Review review review!**


	3. Papaya

**(2012) This chapter is now edited. Main lesson I learned? I did not need to actually post a full grocery list that Hermione was going to buy with items such as 'other spices' and 'anything else I see in the store.'**

**Disclaimer-I don't own Harry Potter.**

Hermione snuggled into her bed awhile later, because when everything else was going strangely and completely unexpectedly her bed was a solid place she could cocoon herself in. Eventually her thoughts wandered to Andrea, wondering how she was supposed to go about explaining why she'd randomly moved into a house with people from school, half of whom she didn't even like. No doubt she would want to come over to meet them and visit often, which would be highly problematic. While she was certain Ron and Harry would be willing to tone down the magic references and keep their wands out of sight, the Slytherins would no doubt refuse.

She pulled herself out of the pile of blankets she'd bundled herself in and reached for her laptop. Hopefully if she went to Andrea's pool party, which she'd managed to avoid for several years, she could placate her friend. Andrea was relentless in her attempts to get Hermione to be more social and refused to accept that she really didn't have a secret desire to be a social butterfly.

_To: Mione_

_From: Andrea_

_Subject: pArTaY_

_Hey hun,_

_Omg where are u? I called ur house and ur parents were like she's gone for the entire summer? But they gave me ur address and the house phone number, ur only a fifteen minute drive. u had better invite me over soon I want to meet ur friends! _

_So my party. This Saturday. Sorry about the short notice but ur coming! Come for 9 so we can talk and everything before it starts. And girl, unless u've gained about a hundred pounds u had better be in a bikini. If ur not I'll force u into one of mine._

_Love from_

_Annie_

_Xoxo_

Hermione grimaced as she read through the message, pausing briefly before clicking _reply_.

_To: Andrea_

_From: Hermione_

_Subject: The party_

_Hello,_

_I'll come for 9, but no promises regarding my attire. If you want to talk to me I suggest calling my cell phone (it's new), so here's the number: 735-761-8376. I don't know how polite anyone will be on the phone. Some of my roommates were definitely not my first choice. So you'll have to call me before you come over. _

_By the way, please spell 'you' properly next time you e-mail me, it is so distracting and difficult to read when you spell it that way. Thanks._

_Hermione._

_Again—please no drop-by visits. This isn't like living with my parents, I'm going to need advanced warning._

She clicked send and leaned back with a sigh. She didn't feel very tired, but emerging from her room increased the possibility of running into one of the Slytherins and she really didn't want to deal with living with them yet. _These laptops have some kind of magic tampering on them…maybe I can look up the television show on here. _She brought up google and typed in 'House of Hell.' A few web results came up, one of which was for a muggle horror book series, and then clicked the one that was made by the WWNC and wasn't accessible for muggles.

As she scrolled down she saw personality summaries, background information and even bets on the relationships of people in the house. There were videos with interviews of Sheila and James, as well as the first half-hour introductory special available that basically consisted of their kidnappings. There were sections that had photographs of her and her friends from Hogwarts, summaries of their time at the school, and speculation regarding their futures.

Shaking her head she returned to google and searched the image results, which were just as strange. She was about to exit off when something caught her eye. It was a photograph of one of the clips from the introduction Sheila and James had shown them. Six pairs of eyes were stacked, staring out of the screen at her. She was entranced.

Silver grey eyes, like ice burgs or liquid metal, gazed out of the screen. Pale blond eyelashes framed them and her breath caught in her throat, because it was just unfair that Draco was such a terrible person and had the most incredible eyes she'd ever seen. Harry's were beneath his, and although they were a piercing emerald green there was still the warmth in them that she was accustomed to seeing. It comforted her to know that, despite what Harry had been through, he still had the ability to care and even, on occasion, embraced it.

If it hadn't been for the stretch of skin surrounding their eyes Hermione may not have realized the next ones were Blaise's. They were the darkest blue she had ever seen—the deepest parts of an ocean during a thunderstorm. She had always thought Blaise was a rather cold person—he always seemed very arrogant and aloof, but his eyes were burning with passion. Ron's blue was next, the middle of the sky in a sunny day, and Hermione marveled at how eyes seemed to hold a person's history in them. Ron's almost seemed to tell a story of love, of being a brother and son and best friend.

Pansy, who Hermione had always found quite annoying and shallow, also had beautiful eyes. They were all teal with flecks of grey and what looked like a light honey. Almost reluctantly she looked at her own. While she wasn't one to criticize her own characteristics, as she thought other aspects of a person were far more important, she'd always been a bit disappointed by her eye colour. No one ever exclaimed over brown eyes—they seemed common and average. The same eyes that looked back at her from the mirror were watching her now, but there was warmth in them that she never seemed to have when she did so.

With a sigh Hermione closed the window and leaned back against the wall. She'd been in this house for a matter of hours and already she was behaving in a self-indulgent manner, staring at photographs of her own eyes. It was ridiculous.

People would probably be talking about the show already, and that made her uneasy. Everything she said or did would be captured on film, save anything in the bathroom and the rooms around the house with no camera. Unfortunately none of them knew which ones they were. It was such an invasion of privacy.

The conversations she had with Ron and Harry were obviously going to be very limited, because she didn't want to talk about anything important until she knew where she could do it without the entire wizarding world finding out. She supposed she could just write things down, but she was worried her laptop had some kind of bug in it so Sheila and James could keep track of what she did. That only left a diary.

Wrinkling her nose at the idea of turning into a stereotypical teenager with a diary she began to type up a list of things she would need to get from the grocery store, before climbing back into bed and falling asleep.

The next morning Hermione slept in until the sun streaming through her window woke her up. When she returned home from Hogwarts her sleeping habits were usually screwed up for a couple weeks, so she shook off the drowsy feeling that wouldn't release her from its clutches and got ready for the day.

The walk down to the little village nearby only took about 10-15 minutes and she was soon turning into a respectable store labeled 'Food.' _What an original name. _

"Hello my name is Pam may I be of any assistance to you?" The voice came from a girl with cropped black hair standing just instead the store entrance. She had olive skin and grass green eyes, with pale lips and a few freckles. Her expression had brightened almost instantly when Hermione appeared and she'd stopped slouching. "But actually, though. I really need something to do."

"I, er, have a list," Hermione answered and dug through her purse for the list she'd made the previous day.

Pam's face lit up. "Great! This will take awhile!"

"Okay…a diary…this way." She led her through a series of aisles until they reached one with shelves stacked with paper in every shape and color.

"This one is really cute." Pam held up an extremely fluffy blue diary that looked like a deformed cat.

"Erm, I'm looking for something a bit more…practical." Hermione stared at the diary, wondering what the point of keeping such a conspicuous book was.

"This?" It was a neon pink diary with 'princess' blazing across the front. Pam saw the Gryffindor's horrified look and laughed. As she turned something caught her eye.

It was a faded green diary with metal clips in the corner. She picked it up and flipped through it. The pages were crisp and she inhaled. "I'll take it."

Pam's eyebrows shot up. "You realize that that's second hand, I'm not sure _where _John picked it up." Hermione didn't know who John was, nor did she really care.

"I like it," she said and made a point of putting it in her cart.

"Whatever the customer wants the customer gets," Pam parroted and then looked back to the list. "Diary? Check. Now, milk."

An hour and 35 seconds later they were in the fruit and vegetable section picking the last few things from the list. The cart was dangerously full, with a box of cereal wobbling precariously on top.

"So what is this exactly?" Pam held up an orange fruit in her left hand, flicking it with her right. "Because, like, it looks like a cross between a pear and my ex-boyfriend's face."

"I think it's a papaya," Hermione said and looked more closely at the fruit. "That's what the sign says."

"Really? We have signs here? Wow. You learn something new every day." Pam tossed it into the air but when she went to catch it it slipped through her fingers and landed on the floor. The papaya exploded, its insides shooting across the clean floor and splattering their legs.

"Oh my god! Uhh…" Pam grabbed the microphone attached to the wall and pressed the on button. "We have a papaya down people, we should, er, evacuate the building to stop any, erm, further harm from becoming any other innocent fruit. And please thank Miss Granger for supplying the identity of the fruit in question."

Hermione chuckled and then frowned. "Couldn't you get in trouble with your boss for that?"

Pam nodded. "That is why we're running." She wheeled the cart around and took off, Hermione hot on her heels. They stopped, gasping for air, on the other side of the store. "I think we have another casualty," Pam said between laughs. "The cereal is gone!"

"I suppose you found that amusing." A cool voice said from behind Hermione. She froze and turned slowly.

"Mike," Pam scoffed, "it was _funny_. Add a few words to your extensive vocabulary."

He ignored the other girl in favour of looking at Hermione, recognizing making his eyes widen. "Hey, again."

"You've met?" Pam looked between them, her eyebrows narrowing a bit too much for an innocent question.

Hermione flushed. "He delivered pizza to my house."

Pam frowned, her previously amused demeanor disappearing. "Where do you live?"

She recited her address and at Pam's confused look explained, "The big white house on top of the hill."

Pam whistled. "Didn't you walk here? How are you taking all this stuff back?"

"Er…I can be pretty strong." She said, though in truth she'd planned on using a spell to decrease the weight of the bags as soon as she could without attracting notice.

"I'll drive you if you want." Mike offered, running the zipper from his red vest up and down.

"Er, okay. Thanks," Hermione said, unsure how exactly she could avoid it.

"Another girl never coming out of his car of doom." Pam said in a sinister voice. At Hermione's alarmed look she sighed exasperatedly. "A joke. Am I the only one with a sense of humor?"

Without waiting for an answer she headed off in the direction of the cash register. Mike gave her another smile behind Pam's retreating back and began to push her cart for her. With a small sigh Hermione followed.

She paid for everything and Pam programmed her cell phone number into Hermione's phone, demanding that she call her within the next week. Then Mike helped carry her groceries out to the trunk of his car.

"You know a man was killed on that property a few years ago." Mike said as they began to drive up the road. "It's sort of the local scandal."

"Really?" Hermione asked, intrigued. "How?"

"No one really knows. They found his body one morning, and he didn't have any marks on him. Although," he added thoughtfully, "that's not the original house. I can't really remember when, but they tore it down and rebuilt it on the property."

He looked at her, obviously expecting something along the lines of a scream of terror. Instead she was thinking the idea over in her head, staring out the window of the car. He looked a bit surprised. "That doesn't bother you?"

"It's curious. What was the family name?"

"I…can't really remember." Mike frowned, appearing a bit nonplussed, and turned up their driveway. He parked in front of the door and turned to her. "You're not like many girls, are you?"

She blushed. "I should hope not." She saw Ron's face in the window and couldn't stifle a few giggles over his expression of glee. Mike's grin widened.

"Do you want help with your stuff?"

"That would be great, thanks." She opened the car door and went around to the trunk. Mike popped it open and she gathered as many bags as she could. Ron and Harry met her by the door and snatched them from her hands, so she went back to get more.

"Thank-you so much." Hermione said gratefully.

"No problem." He shrugged. "If you ever need anything else, don't hesitate to call."

She smiled, nodding her head a bit awkwardly. She was entirely unused to receiving this kind of attention from boys and, though she was sure Mike was a very nice person, it seemed like there was something between him and Pam. Plus, she was in no way interested in dating someone over the course of a few summer months.

"Bye." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. She could have sworn from his grin that he had felt heat emanate from her face and had heard her heart beating a mile a minute. She watched his car go down the driveway and turn onto the road.

Her smile disappeared when she turned to go into the kitchen and saw Ron's expression. "Ron?"

"What?" He asked, voice sullen, and began to pull the groceries from their bags.

"Nothing, you just look a bit…upset."

"Do I?" He asked in a strained voice.

She looked at Harry, who shrugged and dug through the bags for cereal. She waved her wand and all the groceries flew to exactly where she wanted them. To her disgust Ron devoured his bowl in about 3 bites and a lot of flying milk, and started on a second.

"So my friend from home, Andrea, invited me to her pool party tomorrow. I think I'm going to go." Hermione began casually, watching as Harry stopped eating and Ron's brow furrowed.

"You think that's a good idea?" Harry asked her, stirring his spoon around the bowl.

"I don't know." She picked at the edge of her nail, avoiding their eyes. "I've always managed to avoid going to them, but I think if I go now she won't push as hard to see me this summer, so I can keep her from coming to the house."

"But you'll have to swim." Ron said, his cereal forgotten.

"I don't actually think so," she shook her head. "I'll go for a few hours and hang around without getting the pool. It will be fine. Honestly, my most pressing concern right now is how to avoid wearing a bikini."

Ron's jaw dropped. "You're _not_ going."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. Anyway, I'm going to go take a shower. I'll be back down later."

"We'll probably be checking out the Quidditch pitch area," Harry informed her as Ron attacked his food with renewed vigor.

Pansy and Draco were coming down the stairs side by side as she began to climb them, and they took up the full width of the stairs. As they approached it became apparent that one of them was going to have to move so they could go around each other. They all stopped in the middle of the steps, before Pansy climbed back a step and moved out of the way.

Hermione continued to the top, but when she reached the landing turned back and watched the pair descent.

The Quidditch pitch was nowhere near full sized, but her two friends were flushed and windswept when they landed beside her and she found herself smiling. "Wow. This is pretty nice."

"Wow."

"I know." Ron said with a grin, slightly breathless. "Beats the field out behind the house, anyway. It's got goalposts and everything."

"You know," Harry began slyly, "This is the perfect time for you to give flying a chance. We never got the time at school, but there's really no excuse now!"

"Yeah!" Ron joined in, "It'll be great fun. Unless you fall off!"

Harry and Ron both laughed, but she glared at them. "You'd better not let me fall off."

"You don't just want to take my Firebolt for a whirl?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised in an attempt to seem innocent. She didn't answer and his face broke into a grin. "Okay, just climb on and hold on to my waist."

"On three." Ron swung onto his broom, "one," she tightened her grip around his waist, "two," she felt his muscles tighten, "three." They shot into the air and a curious sensation filled her. She felt Harry relax, proof that flying helped him release stress. A small bubble of excitement filled her chest and she couldn't help smiling.

"Are you okay?" Harry called back, wind whipping through his hair.

"Yes!" The blood pounded in her ears and adrenaline coursed through her. This was _much_ smoother then a hippogriff, and a thestral. But then anything is more comfortable then flying on something you saw right through.

They soared around the pitch and came to a halt in the middle. She gazed around the pitch and sighed. The view was amazing, even if she could only see the grass stretched below. Then she made the mistake of looking straight down.

Fear swamped her and she gasped. "Can we go down? Please?" He grip tightened around him.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Look down." She shivered and pressed closer to him. Harry and Ron looked around below and searched for whatever had disturbed her so much.

"I don't see anything." Ron said.

"I think I'm not used to this kind of thing." She buried her head in the crook of Harry's neck and he slowly drifted back to the ground.

"That is going to take some getting used to." She muttered as she righted herself.

Her implications made Ron beam. "You'll go up again?"

"Maybe not today, tomorrow, or the next day, but someday." She couldn't refuse, what with the looks Harry and Ron were giving her.

"Okay, good." Harry grinned.

"Well you two have fun, I'll see you later." She waved them away and before she'd turned around they'd both shot back up into the air.

She'd always found it fascinating, the passion they held for the sport. It was the same energy she had for knowledge, except she thought hers as a bit more productive then flying around on brooms.

By an unknown command her legs started moving and took her away. The grass crunched unnaturally under her feet and she knelt down to touch it. It was real, but she assumed it probably had a spell to maintain its length.

She kept going, contemplating how different her summer was going to be. Why had Sheila and James chosen _them _as the 'stars'? There was the obvious reason, she supposed. The Boy-Who-Lived and his two closest friends that had been getting into trouble every year at their school, usually under strange and dangerous circumstances. People sometimes had the nerve to wonder if maybe she and Ron weren't really his friends, if they were just in everything for the fame. But no one had experienced what they had together.

"_No!" Ron shouted as Hermione was hit by a red stream of light. She staggered as blood seeped from the gash in her right thigh._

"_Go!" She screamed at him. "Just go!" Ron stood there, motionless for about 10 seconds as the movement around them seemed to slow, and then began running towards her. "Ron, go!"_

_She stumbled and fell down, narrowly avoiding a green jet of light. A hand grasped her arm and pulled her up._

"_Come on," Harry's eyes burned her. "We've got to keep moving."_

_She forced herself to get up and keep running, but her strength was ebbing away with each step she took. The three pulled into a crevice barely big enough for them to fit as Harry looked them both over. He ripped a piece of his shirt off and Hermione bound her leg to stop the blood flow. With one last look at each other they dashed back out of their hiding spot._

Then there were always the love triangle hopefuls, eager for more after Rita spread rumors involving Harry, Victor, and Hermione. They couldn't seem to grasp the thought that there can be friendship with people of the opposite sex without feelings that surpassed those that were strictly platonic.

Sheila and James had obviously thrown in Draco and his friends to try and stiry up some drama. There was Draco, the Death Eater's son, with plenty of money and powerful familial connections. Blaise was rather mysterious, given his usual silence, and the fact that he spent half his time with Draco and the rest with Theodore Nott, who most people forgot was even in their year. A raised eyebrow from him was creepy enough under the right circumstances. And of course Pansy, always with her nose held high, never letting anyone faze her. Attention seeking at its worst.

It was relatively common knowledge in Hogwarts that Blaise and Pansy never got along, and they were only together because of Draco. They could be seen glaring daggers at each other in the halls, classes, meals and probably in the Slytherin Common room. Every so often there would be someone that suggested they were like Hermione and Ron because they were always arguing, but both sides fervently denied this.

She realized her feet had betrayed her and taken her to the pool. Light reflected off the surface, sending her mind reeling. But no, this water seemed much more serene. Not like before. She sank to her knees and stared at the stagnate surface, the close proximity sent shivers through her, but she was safe.

It didn't stop her from remembering the last time she'd been submerged in a body of water, the slime choking her, the eery green sheen and the hands, tugging her, dragging her, the realization that she was going to die—

"Granger if you don't move away from the pool I may decide to push you in after all." A cool voice sounded behind her. She scrambled to her feet and whirled around.

Draco stood there in swimming trunks with a towel thrown over his shoulder, with Blaise at his side, dressed similarly.

"Go away Malfoy." Her voice lacked the usual conviction.

He smirked. "I would, well actually I wouldn't, but we're going swimming and we'd appreciate mudblood free water."

"Well you're in luck," she said coolly, "I was just leaving. Be careful, you may be infected with arrogant prat germs after swimming with him." She directed her last comment at Blaise. Then she pushed past them roughly and stalked up to the house. Why did they think they could walk all over her? Just like Todd. Well he had another thing coming at Andrea's pool party.

Well, they all had another thing coming. She would show them all.

**A/N I'm sorry this has taken so long, but something has been wrong with the site, and I managed to upload The Initiation on one day when things seemed to be working, and then they were messed up again. **


	4. Never

**(2012) This chapter has been edited. Lesson learned from this chapter? It is not necessary to tell readers she is dreaming by writing ****DREAM**** in the middle of the page.**

**A/N I feel really bad about not updating very efficiently for this story, so I'm going to try to make it up in the material.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Wandering the house eventually led her to the extensive library, where she ran her hands over the books and breathed in the rich scent of the mahogany wood. Harry and Ron stayed out on the pitch all day and she tried not to think about the approaching party she was attending. Her worries were three-fold—she would have to see Todd, it was a party and therefore exactly her social scene, and the water.

"What's for dinner?" Ron came stampeding into the kitchen, followed by Harry, and collapsed into a chair.

Distracted, she looked up from the book she was reading. "Oh, I suppose because I'm a _girl_ you expect me to cook for you while we're here."

"Actually, it has more to do with the fact that you _can_ cook, and I'm rubbish at it." Ron informed her with a shrug. "That's why Mum always makes me set the table."

She closed her book with a quick snap. "Well I am _not_ becoming your chef. You should take this opportunity to find out how much work the House Elves really do. It will give you a much finer appreciation for the things you have."

Harry ran his hand through his hair. "I can cook."

"No, I can do it. Today at least." She took up, striding to the fridge and in the process missing the look of confusion Harry and Ron exchanged. She looked up from ripping the plastic off the chicken breast wrapper. "You should probably shower. You're all muddy."

How Harry and Ron had ever become friends was no mystery to anyone. They were like two peas in a pod, a favorite expression of her mother's. They were interested in relatively the same things, they were both brave, loyal friends and very overprotective. Their main division was how they'd both grown up.

Draco Malfoy strode through the door and groaned aloud when he saw her standing by the sink, staring at the chicken in her hands. "I was actually hoping I could avoid seeing you the whole summer. My dreams are crushed."

She glared at him, "You can hardly blame me for your lackluster dreams, Malfoy. Or your inability to achieve them. Actually," she cocked her head to the side. "I forgot you've already decided to blame all muggleborns for it, so I guess in your warped mind you can."

Harry came back through the door, pushing his wet hair from his face, and Draco made a hasty exit when he realized he was now outnumbered. Harry watched him go with his jaw tight and then grinned at Hermione, idly commenting on Draco's resemblance to small rodents.

"What can I do to help?" He asked as he joined her.

"Er, I suppose peel the potatoes."

"Yeah, then what?"

"Er, I guess put them in water." She said slowly. He didn't move and watched her expectantly. "Is that enough for you?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm just more accustomed to long lists of stuff to do. Well I'll get started then." He flashed his lopsided smile at her.

Another reminder of the kind of childhood Harry had had. Anger bubbled inside her when she thought about the way the Dursleys had treated him, and she didn't even know the full story.

It ended up taking Ron a full half hour more then Harry to finally get downstairs. Coincidentally the same time as the chicken was done.

"Smells good." He plopped down on a chair.

"Ron, you are not eating anything until you set the table." She snatched the dishes from Harry and pushed them into Ron's hands. He opened his mouth to speak, but took in her expression and wisely didn't.

"So you're actually going to go to that party, tomorrow?" Harry asked her, the expression on his face telling her what his words didn't.

"I've given it some more thought, and I think it will be fine." She shrugged, "I did go to school with some of these people for awhile."

"Six years ago," Ron pointed out. "Six years ago I was just a boy with red hair."

"As opposed to now?" Harry raised his eyebrows. "You're…a man with red hair?"

"Among other things." Ron said and smiled in response to his friends' snickers. "Can't you only leave for four hours?"

"I owled Sheila and James about it. They were thrilled." Hermione rolled her eyes, "I think they're hoping I'm going to turn out to be some kind of party girl and this is only the beginning."

"How close are you and Andrea, anyway?" Ron squinted his eyes, as if it helped him visualize her friend. "Isn't it going to be boring there, alone?"

Hermione sighed, "I won't be alone. Andrea is the only muggle friend I've kept in contact with, and she's effortlessly social. You two would attract too much attention, even if you could come."

Harry looked puzzled, "I thought this was a muggle party."

"It is. I mean because there will be girls there." Hermione said and Harry looked confused for another moment, before flushing.

"Come off it Harry," she scoffed, "I've mentioned this to you before. Even people who don't know about your past or Quidditch or anything probably still get broodish vibes from you, which apparently is the new thing in boys. You should hear what the girls say about you at Hogwarts. Or what's written in the loo."

Harry's expressed flickered between pleased and embarrassed. "It's all the hype, it's not actually _me_. Besides, what about you and that spiky haired guy?"

"What? You mean Mike?" She said as Ron watched them both from under the fringe of his bangs.

"Oh, really? I didn't know it was common for friends to kiss each other. Or is that also a 'new thing' these days?" He grinned at her evident embarrassment.

"I've kissed both of _you_ on the cheek!" She protested, but when his smile didn't move continued. "How about you and Ginny?"

Ron's interest was immediately sparked and he turned to face Harry. "Have you been making eyes at my sister?"

"No, Ron." Harry responded, frowning at Hermione and she instantly regretted mentioning it.

"Good, because not even you can make eyes at my sister." He went back to eating as though he'd just settled everything.

"Ron, Ginny is basically an adult. She can make her own decisions." Hermione said, eyes wide with exasperation.

"Her other boyfriend decisions have been pretty bad, so I'm not so sure. Besides, why would Harry even _want_ to look at Ginny? He may as well be looking at me, we've got the same hair and freckles and all." He went on eating and missed the complete look of horror that flashed over Harry's face.

Hermione, however, did not and burst into laughter. Ron watched her suspiciously and Harry carefully took a drink of water, shrugging when his friend shot him a questioning look. It was that scene that Pansy walked into, halting in the door when she noticed the trio sitting at the table.

Hermione looked up in surprise, watching Pansy step back as if to leave and sucked in a breath. If they were going to be living in the same house for the entire summer, it wouldn't do to constantly be at odds, although that was obviously what the WWNC wanted.

"Sit down," Hermione said and gestured at the table. "We're almost done anyway, so, erm…yes."

Pansy eyes flickered between the three and then she strode into the room and moved to the refrigerator. "I'm not going to let you keep me from entering rooms, if that's what you think."

Ron rolled his eyes and glowered while Harry slumped against his chair. "Obviously not, since she just invited you in."

"Well, I _would_ be ever-so-grateful, but I'm fairly certain that, as it's my house too, I don't need an invitation to enter the kitchen." The blond shut the doors and looked over his shoulder.

"I'm finished!" Hermione cut into the borderline confrontation and stood up, carrying her dishes to the sink. The two boys followed suit and, when the dishes were clean, they left together. It was increasingly evident that the pair weren't going to try and build any bridges with the other housemates. While the prospect wasn't one that pleased her, she felt a sort of obligation to be the one that was willing to wave a white flag.

She decided to go back to her room, where solitude beckoned, and bid the boys a goodnight. The hallways felt narrow and unfamiliar compared to the corridors of Hogwarts and she wrapped her arms around herself. Until she'd gone to Hogwarts she hadn't imagined that she would miss a building that wasn't her parents' home, but now even thinking about the ancient atmosphere, jostling crowds of hurrying students, secret passageways and ghosts sent a surge of longing through her.

So distracted was she that she walked straight into something—or what she realized a moment later could better be known as someone. "Malfoy!"

"Watch where you're walking, Granger." He sneered down his nose at her, which was entirely ridiculous because he wasn't that much taller than she was.

"Oh please, Malfoy." Despite her obligatory feelings of a need for some sort of niceties she still had to struggle against the desire to snap back at him. "Running into me didn't ruin your hair at all."

"You know, Granger," he took a step back as he slipped his hands into his pockets, a sneer working its way over his lips. "If I were you, I wouldn't be worrying about _my_ hair."

"Have you never met anyone who cares as much about their hair as you?" She asked him, "Because I'm assuming not. So it shouldn't be quite a stretch for you to recognize that my hair is really not high on my priorities—"

"I think that's evident for all." He reached out and flicked at her hair, wrinkling his nose with distaste. "I'm going to leave now, before all the static electricity that hovers around your mane of a head stops the functionality of my brain."

"Careful, Malfoy. You might've just gotten cooties," she snapped, stepping back.

"I hate to break it to you, but those aren't actually _real_."

She watched him stride down the hall and clenched her fists, calling "I _know_ that!" He didn't answer her and she let out a huff, storming back to her room.

Later that evening she and Harry decided to educate Ron on DVDs, something he responded to with both intrigue and skepticism. As they were getting settled on the couch Harry flicked on the screen and, to the surprise of all, the screen was filled with two of the Slytherins they were currently living with. Draco and Blaise were sitting in a bedroom—one that was much bigger and grander than any Hermione had seen and laughing. Harry clicked it back off. It felt like an intrusion, not to mention hypocritical, to watch the show when it focused on their other housemates.

"Right, well I suppose we get the channel of our show." She sighed and put the DVD in. The three settled in and she briefly explained the concept of movies because, although she wouldn't be surprised if Arthur had given it a go at some point he may have missed a few crucial points.

The movie started and Ron seemed to enjoy it, if his occasional exclamations were anything to go by ("Hey, that's the guy from the bar!" "Holy _Merlin_ she stuck a pen in his throat!"). Something about Rachel McAdams movies after nine o'clock always seemed to put her into a lull and, when it was over, she wandered to her room and collapsed on her bed, where dreams overtook her consciousness.

"_Oh, hey 'Mione." Andrea smiled at her. "How're you?"_

"_Oh I'm good. You look nice, a bit pregnant though." She frowned in confusion._

"_Hmm? Oh yeah," Andrea waved her hand dismissively. "It's just one of those days, you know. So when I swim I float."_

"_Then don't swim."_

"_I know," Andrea sighed. "But my pool party…"_

_Pool party._

Hermione woke with a start and blearily pulled herself from her bed. In the weeks after exams, eight o'clock was a ridiculous hour to be awake and she wandered around her room searching for the longest pair of shorts she could find.

When she finally arrived at Andrea's house it was a couple minutes after nine. Her friend opened the door in pajama shorts and a tank top, her glossy hair falling over her slender shoulder. "Hermy!"

Hermione accepted the hug with a laugh. "Here I was, hoping that nickname may have gone out of fashion."

Andrea rolled her icy blue eyes, "Never. Come on in."

Hermione perched on the corner of Andrea's bed while her friend rummaged around her closet and pulled on some clothes. She always felt at least a little awkward during the initial moments of their meetings, but Andrea usually smoothed it over with her social graces. "So how was your school year?"

"Alright. It's school. Can't believe I'm graduating next year," she replied as she dragged a shirt over her head.

"Where are you going?" She asked and smiled as she saw a picture of her and Andrea at Andrea's 5th birthday. She still wasn't sure why Andrea put so much effort into their relationship, especially considering the fact that they literally never spoke during the school year.

"I'll probably just apply, like, everywhere," her voice was muffled, "but I don't really know. What about you?"

Hermione cleared her throat, "I don't know, haven't really thought about it."

"You haven't?" Andrea's surprised voice filled the room. "Even _Becky _has thought about it. Becky doesn't think about anything."

"Well, I don't know. I've been pretty busy." She couldn't very well say she wasn't going anywhere, it would be too suspicious. In fact, she wasn't really sure how she would explain what she was doing after school to a muggle. "So how are you and Todd?"

"Me and Todd? Oh, we broke up."

"Oh. I wish I could honestly say I'm sorry to hear that."

"Eh, he's kind of an idiot." Andrea shrugged, surveying her outfit in the mirror.

"True." She admitted with a laugh.

"Okay, so I basically invited you over so that you can help me set up." Andrea told her, tossing her hair over her shoulder and stampeding down the stairs.

"Er, great." Hermione followed her and they set about getting ready.

By the afternoon they'd cleaned the house, bought food and drinks, set up refreshment tables, skimmed the table, scrubbed the barbeque, set out coolers and set up the sound system. They were in the process of dancing—in Hermione's case sliding back and forth from foot to foot with the occasional head toss while Andrea shook her entire body in isolated fragments—as they cut vegetables in the kitchen when people started arriving.

As people began to filter in Hermione thanked Merlin once again that the cameras weren't filming her. Not only did she not want people to see her dancing around a kitchen in shorts while brandishing a sharp knife, but she certainly did not want them to see her acting socially awkward around the grown up version of her muggle classmates.

Andrea slinked off to mingle with her friends and Hermione ducked her head and started eating carrots. She was just debating whether or not finding her friend was worth it when she felt a hand slide onto her bum and started, whipping around.

"Hey, baby." The tall boy who was smirking at her ran a hand down her arm, following the movement with his eyes. "Haven't seen you around here."

"Todd!" Andrea's voice interrupted what was sure to be the cherry on top of an excellent first impression and Hermione's mouth fell open when he responded to the name.

"What? Can't a guy notice a-oh my god." He took in her face and his jaw dropped. "Hermione?"

"Yes." She said, shifting her weight onto one foot and crossing her arms.

"You look…different." He was spluttering, staring at her as if he'd just found out she was going to a magical boarding school.

"Well I think that's enough of a reunion don't you? Let's go, Hermy." Andrea tugged her arm and led her to where a table of people were sitting and chatting.

"Hey guys!" Andrea said, dropping into a seat and dragging Hermione into the one beside her. "Hermione this is Joel, Madison, Brittany, Hannah, Josh and Brett. Guys, this is Hermione!"

"Hermione Granger?" Joel was staring at her face as if trying to remember how he knew her and she nodded, smiling. "Whoa, I haven't seen you since you left for school!"

"It's been awhile," she found herself nodding. Every single word that came out of her mouth had to be pre-considered and she was forced to realize with a jolt that maintaining muggle relationships was ridiculously difficult.

The group chatted aimlessly about nothing in particular and Hermione found herself tuning them out unconsciously. While she had absolutely no intention of behaving like she was above them in any way, but all the movies they were talking about, or bands or people had literally no relevance in her life. She turned back to the table and realized they were all looking for it.

"You up for it?" Joel asked and she got the impression it wasn't for the first time.

"Erm, yeah." She said quickly. Josh and Brett, who she hadn't realized had even left, were dragging a cooler of beers back to the table and started distributing them.

Josh set one in front of her and she resisted a grimace. "I don't drink." Not entirely true, but true enough in the situation.

They stared at her for a second and the brunette Hermione was pretty sure was Brittany sneered at her. "Alright," Andrea said quickly, "There should be some soda in there."

"So you all know how to play, right?" Brittany asked in a high voice, her eyes flickering from face to face at the table.

"Play what?" Hermione asked, unable to stop herself.

"Haven't you been listening?" Andrea giggled, "I Never."

"Oh." She hated the game. It was either for people who were excited by the prospect of airing their dirty laundry or those that were too afraid to ask questions directly but wanted answers.

The questions began quite tamely, with things like never been caught sneaking out, never cheated on a test, or person, laughed at a funeral or fell out of a tree. Hermione resisted the urge to sigh and slid a smile on her face when she noticed Brittany watching her with narrowed eyes.

"I never set something on fire." Andrea laughed. Hermione raised her can to her lips, only realizing after a second that she was the only one drinking. At Hogwarts it was likely that most people would have taken a sip, and she was once again struck by how different her life was from theirs.

"Wow, you must be clumsy!" Madison giggled, and Andrea rolled her eyes at Hermione, watching her expectantly.

"I, erm, have never done drugs." She was surprised to witness every single person at the table drinking, wincing as Brittany seemed to take it as a personal insult.

"I never gave someone a lap dance." Madison giggled, looking pointedly at Hannah.

"It was a dare!" The red head exclaimed, flushing at the laughter.

"I never kissed someone of the same gender on the lips." Brittany smirked evilly and Hermione couldn't help but feel that her intentions were more malicious than not. Josh, Hannah and Andrea drank, the former flushing a deep red.

"Ooooh!" Joel and Brett slammed the table with the palms of their hands.

"It was a dare!" Josh snapped, slumping down in his seat while Andrea simply shrugged.

"I never went streaking." Joel said, waggling his eyebrows around at them all. Josh and Hannah both drank and Hermione guessed they were both a bit wild, a suspicion that seemed confirmed a minute later when the game was interrupted so half the boys and Hannah could have a competition to see who could chug their beers the fastest.

The table quieted down a few minutes after and more beers were opened against the edge of the glass surface. Andrea took it upon herself to get the game going again and declared that she'd never kissed a stranger. Giggling, Brittany and Madison both drank beer and then lost interest immediately after when Brett mentioned sky-diving.

"I never," Josh grimaced, "danced in the rain."

Most of the girls drank, which Brett seemed to find moderately hysterical. "Seriously! I thought that romantic shit was just in movies!"

"I never…didn't finish reading a book." Hermione said, a question that, unlike the others, received no cheerful high fives or shouts of laughter.

"I never walked in on a shagging couple." Madison challenged said not five seconds after Hermione had spoken and then erupted in giggles when Brett drank. He successfully fended off questions and pointed to Brittany, who carried the game on.

"I never…was walked in on while shagging." Joel snickered as he drank and then the group once again dissolved into laughter and catcalls as they put two and two together.

"What? Who were you shagging?" Hannah asked, leaning back on her seat with one leg hooked over the arm.

"I don't really remember her name," Joel said and shrugged.

"I bet she remembers yours." Brett said which caused more bouts of laughter.

"Alright, haha. I never wanted to kill someone. Although, Brett you're really pushing your luck right now!" Joel sniggered, however, and all was obviously forgiven.

Before she could hesitate her hand had twitched, drawing the attention of everyone else. Reluctantly she lifted it to her lips, assuming they would think she was incredibly creepy if she didn't, given that her hand movement basically signified that she had. Their carefree faces were frozen in shock and as the cool liquid soothed her throat she came up with something.

"Well I didn't _really_ want to kill them obviously, it's a figure of speech."

"Oh, right."

"I, erm, never broke a bone." Andrea said after casting a furtive glance at her brunette friend.

"I never told a life changing lie." Brett said, and Hermione drank once more.

"I never had a one night stand." Josh said. Brett and Joel clinked their glasses together and downed their drinks while Brittany and Hannah blushed and sipped.

"I never slept with a teacher." It was out before she could bring it back in and she regretted it instantly. Madison grimaced and drank. The boys all went 'ooh!' again and high fived.

"When?" Joel asked.

"Like I'd tell you." Madison hissed.

"Woah spaz." Brett chuckled.

"I never have not had a boyfriend." Madison said icily and glared at Hermione.

"Liar." Josh muttered. Madison displayed her smug smile when Hermione drank, because she didn't think it was fair to classify Viktor as her _boyfriend_, per se.

"I don't want to settle," She said with a shrug and watched Madison's smile disappear. She saw shock register on the girl's face and realized she'd made an enemy.

"Cat fight." Brett said cheerily.

"Cat fights are so hot." Joel said.

"Yah man!" They high fived.

"Well I never, erm," Brittany stuttered as Madison whispered in her ear, "got rejected."

"I never flirted with a teacher." Joel laughed as Madison scowled at him and took a sip of her drink.

"I never got insulted after I was rejected." Joel drank with a grin.

"It was so hot." He high fived Josh.

"I never pretended to be gay so I could go into a gay bar." Brett grinned. Josh drank and Joel sniggered.

"I never made out with someone of the same sex." Josh, Andrea and Hannah both drank. Before Joel could say anything (Hermione suspected it would be along the lines of 'that would be so hot!') Andrea held up her hand and shook her head.

"I never told someone I was gay so I didn't have to date them." Hannah said.

"I never cried over someone who wasn't worth it." Hermione said, and was startled by the number of people who admitted to it.

"I never did any acid." Madison was glaring so ferociously at Hermione no one noticed Andrea take a tentative sip until she choked a bit.

"You…did acid? _When?_" Joel frowned.

Andrea looked downcast. "Twice. After my mom died. I didn't know what to do."

"It's okay." Joel patted her back awkwardly, looking around the table as if for help.

"Let's not play this anymore, its boring." Brittany said in a whiny voice, "Let's play truth or dare. If you lie, or chicken out, it's to the pool for you."

Hermione frowned. Brittany and Madison were only interested in digging up dirt on the other people, and had successfully managed to do so on everyone but her.

"Can't you see that-"

"I'll play." Andrea agreed half-heartedly.

"Joel, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to strip down to your boxers and jump on the pool." Madison flashed him a smile, "We'll start easy."

He did as was told and ignored the wolf-whistles sent his way. When he returned he shook his hair out on the shrieking girls.

"Brittany, truth or dare." He asked.

"Truth."

"Do you fancy someone?"

"Yes." She replied.

"Who?"

"Well it's my turn isn't it?" She said cheekily, "Hermione truth or dare?"

"Truth." She didn't want to imagine what the girls would try to make her do.

"Why did you flinch away when Joel jumped in the pool?" So Brittany was more observant then she'd thought.

"I didn't want to get wet." She lied, a bit too quickly.

"Liar." Madison said evilly. "Todd!"

Before she knew what was happening she was lifted over Todd's shoulder and he was moving. "To the pool!" A guy yelled.

Pool? Panic filled her and a scream rose in her throat, though it was unable to surface. The teenagers gathered around all stopped to watch with feral grins and Madison stood up, smirking. Nothing seemed to fascinate people as much as someone being tossed against their will into large bodies of water.

They neared the chlorinated water and she regained control of herself, beating Todd's back with her fists. Unfortunately it didn't seem to have any effect on him. The next thing she knew she was airborne and falling toward the water.

A high-pitched curdling scream erupted from her mouth that no one could mistake as anything but terror. She crashed into the water and felt like her heart would implode. Her legs and arms thrashed, trying to get to the surface but never really moving.

"_Avada Kedavra!" A Death Eater shot a spell and a jet of green light shot towards her._

"_No!" She heard shouts in the background and then the sensation of being pushed forward. A Death Eater near her was hit by a purple stream and went crashing into her._

_The force of the hit sent them both careening into the shimmering green water. It took her nearly a second to realize that there were bodies in the water before they were being mobbed. To her horror they circled the fallen Death Eater and latched onto him. His eyes widened and he clawed at them and as they pulled him downwards his mouth opened to scream. In seconds he was gone._

_Slimy hands grabbed her and bile rose in her throat. She couldn't close her eyes but didn't want to see anymore. She didn't want to see the green water, or the slowly disappearing surface of the water as she descended, but most of all she didn't want to see the translucent bodies of the dead. She opened her mouth to scream and choked as water entered it._

_This was the end._

**A/N Hermione's dream has no relevance to the story, but I had a similar dream awhile ago so I put it in there to connect with the story and pool party and all.**

**I hope this enlightened you a bit about the water fear. **

**I'm eager to get this up so there isn't much else to say right now… anyway thanks for reading!**

**Please review!**


	5. Jacob

**(2012) Edited—almost all the dialogue has been rewritten in some way, but expresses the same things and nothing of significance has been changed.**

**A/N Okay a problem has been pointed out to me about how they're only allowed out of the house for four hours at a time. Well I kind of overlooked that in my planning stages of the party so I'm going to change something in the last chapter. She sends an owl to Sheila and James and they remove the spell until she gets back. Thanks so much _crazy-emerald-blue_ for pointing that out, it's fixed now!**

**Props to the people who see the Parent Trap reference.**

**Disclaimer-I do not own Harry Potter.**

Hands shook Hermione and she rolled over, coughing and spitting water onto the ground. Her throat felt like it had been rubbed raw with bricks of sand and she accepted the cool drink that was pressed into her hand. She was sitting on the grass beside the pool, a blanket wrapped around her soaking body with no recollection of how she got there. A few of the people who'd been at the table with her had gathered round and were peering at her like she'd escaped from the zoo and been shot by a tranquilizer.

"Hermione?" Andrea was on her knees beside Hermione, holding onto her hand. "Are you okay? I don't even know what just happened—one second they're throwing you in and the next Jacob was here pulling you out!"

"Jacob?" She repeated, drinking more of her water.

"Hi," Jacob said with a smile and it brought a rush of memories of childhood memories back to her. Of course. Jacob was Andrea's elder brother, who she hadn't seen in years and had the same strawberry blond hair and facial structure.

"I didn't know he was here." Hermione muttered, mostly to Andrea.

"I didn't even notice he was here until he'd jumped in after you," Joel offered, his eyes roving over the business attire Jacob was wearing.

"Thanks." She said, because it seemed like the thing to do when a person dragged you away from drowning.

Jacob shrugged as if he did it all the time. "No problem. I always liked you anyway."

She couldn't help but smile, "Thanks." She almost added that she'd always liked him, too, but she had the feeling the liking he was referring to wasn't the same as hers.

"Here, put these on." Andrea came over carrying a bundle of clothes in her arms, and Hermione was startled to realize she hadn't even noticed the absence. "Pull these on over your bathing suit."

Getting to her feet Hermione accepted the jean shorts and brown shirt, avoiding looking at anyone as she pulled off her wet clothes and swapped them with the dry ones. It may have been a bit teen-novel cliché, but she felt incredibly awkward just wearing a bathing suit in front of everyone crowded around.

"You feeling okay?" Jacob asked her, and she flushed, hoping he hadn't been watching her that intently the whole time.

"Oh, yeah." Her head was spinning and she felt clammy, but that was no doubt a reaction to nearly drowning, mixed with her fear of water.

"Good. I'm going to get changed," Jacob addressed Andrea and pulled her into a tight hug, grinning as she shrieked at the feeling of his wet clothes. "Hey, sis."

"You know, you could have just said that you can't swim," Madison said, one corner of her mouth pulled into a sneer.

"It never came up," Hermione said as coolly as she could, relieved at least that they hadn't realized she was perfectly capable of swimming in the moments where intense terror weren't overriding her basic human instincts.

"I'll make you some tea." Andrea volunteered, "Maybe you should come in the house for a bit."

"No that's okay. I can make it." She assured her friend. Andrea smiled at her and then disappeared to make tea anyway. Suddenly the music was turned back on and Hermione jumped about five feet in the air.

"Easy, killer." Brett chuckled, clapping a hand on her back. She smiled in response, running her hands up and down her arms.

Andrea returned with tea and a dry blanket, both of which Hermione accepted gratefully. She stood, surrounded by Andrea's friends, and they all watched her.

"So… what exactly happened to you?" Joel asked after exchanging a look with Josh.

"What kind of question is that?" Hannah asked with a laugh, but her eyes were on Hermione's face.

He shrugged, "I'm just wondering. None of us have seen or heard from you in years, and now you're suddenly back and act really different and we have no idea where you go to school or anything."

Andrea answered for her, "She goes to this super isolated school."

"What's it called?"

"Erm, its kind of a really long French name that I can't pronounce." She lied quickly, taking a gulp of tea and trying to pretend it didn't hurt.

"But you were always the best in our French class," Joel chuckled, oblivious to her discomfort. "If you've been going to a school for years you must've picked it up somehow."

"Oh, right." She laughed awkwardly, "it's, erm, Beauxbatons."

"Bless you," Joel said, munching on some crisps.

Hermione stared at him blankly for a moment, and then laughed. "Erm, no. That's the school name."

"Huh, funny name." Josh said, "I've never heard of it."

"It's pretty obscure. More of a word-of-the-mouth type place. I'll be right back, I'm just going to the loo." She said quickly and made her way through the crowds of people to get inside. The cool air of the house swamped her and she sighed at the relief and change of atmosphere.

Her content was soon gone when she left the bathroom and had to return outside. The remainder of the afternoon consisted of Hermione watching the dancers and day dreaming, interrupted by the occasional exchange of words with old classmates. Mostly, though, they watched her from the corners of her eyes and she half-heartedly let Andrea introduce her to some of the people in the yard.

When the pizza arrived Hermione volunteered to go get it, mainly so she could take a breather from the crowd. She wasn't entirely sure how long she was obligated to stay, but as the alcohol began to disappear she was more and more inclined to depart. Being surrounded by completely wasted teenagers that she really didn't know at all wasn't much of an appealing prospect.

When she reached the door she was surprised to meet Jacob there as he paid with the money Andrea had set on the counter earlier. He carried them over to the marble tops and placed the boxes on there. The pizza guy went back to his car and got the other stack. For a second she thought it was Mike and had the urge to run over and ask to be driven back home, but he turned around and she was met with someone most definitely _not _Mike. He caught her looking at him and smiled before he left.

Jacob turned around and started when he saw her. "Jeeze Hermione you gave me a fright!" He got a plate from the counter and opened the top pizza box. "I prefer not to venture into Andrea's parties, even for food."

She smiled at him, contemplating the task of carrying that many boxes outside. "Why?"

He shrugged, "Drunk high school girls. Enough said there."

"They're not _all_ bad," Hermione said as he pulled two slices onto a plate.

"The last time I was home during one of her parties a girl literally jumped on my back and yelled 'Go ponyboy, go.' I couldn't tell if she was actually referencing The Outsiders or just really out of it." He shrugged, taking a bite. "Shouldn't you be outside shimmying up to some boy who won't remember your name later?"

"You have a pretty bleak impression of high school girls." She said in response. "And I don't do that sort of thing."

He was watching her thoughtfully. "Not all high school girls, I suppose."

She shrugged. "I'm going to take the pizza out."

He nodded but didn't reply so she picked up as many boxes as she was physically able and used her hip to open the door. When she was about a meter away from the door people came over and in seconds she had her arms out, holding nothing. As she turned back more teenagers came out of the house with the rest of the food. Jacob was leaning against the counter inside, laughing and she grinned at him.

"Hermione!" Andrea called and she turned to see her friend coming over. "Here, there wasn't going to be any left so I brought you a piece. These kids are barbarians."

She accepted the slice and tilted her head slightly to the side so she could see inside the house. Jacob was gone.

"Why aren't you dancing?" Andrea complained, "I've seen guys asking you."

"I'm not really interested in dancing like that." She said and smiled meekly. "I mean, we went to elementary school with some of these people."

"The slow dancing is going to start soon and you don't even have to be that close to the person so I expect you to dance with _someone_." She turned as her name was called. "Oh, sorry, god, I have to go start the bonfire."

Hermione made her way over to the bonfire and sat on a log that wasn't occupied by a couple. Andrea was soon drawn away and was dancing with someone she didn't recognize. When watching the other people provided no entertainment she turned her attention to the fire and watched it slowly eating away at the dry wood. It was nearing 9:30, and she decided she would wait until 10 and then head back to the house. While she'd never been the most social person at Hogwarts she'd felt accepted by most of her peers, so being at this party was uncomfortable, to say the least.

"Do you want to dance?" She jumped, getting to her feet so she could face Todd. "Sorry?"

"Let's dance." He smirked at her, taking a drink from his nearly empty beer bottle. She wrinkled her nose against the smell.

"No, thanks."

"What?" Any traces of a smile disappeared.

"No thanks." She repeated, looking over his shoulder at the group of males collected behind him. He obviously didn't get rejected very often and she heard laughter from the crowd.

"C'mon Hermione. Dance with me once."

She frowned. "I said no, Todd."

"Why are you like this? I'm trying to be nice and get over stuff that happened so long ago. I'm different, I thought you were too." If it hadn't been Todd speaking, and he wasn't drunk, she might have actually believed him.

"Todd why don't you go find someone as intoxicated as you are?"

He rolled his eyes. "I have a high alcohol tolerance. Two beers isn't enough to get me drunk."

"No, but six are." She heard someone from behind him say with a snigger.

"I don't dance." She said and glared at him, turning to walk away. His hand gripped her arm and he pulled her back, his mouth beside her ear.

"Hermione, you're hot, I'm hot. We should dance. Anything we do would be hot." He added a suggestive undertone. "How about we see just how hot we can make things?"

She gasped, affronted, and whirled around, her hand making contact with his face before she could stop herself. His eyes widened and he backed away from her, a stream of curse words flying from his lips. She let out a huff of breath and decided 10 be damned, eyes scanning the yard for Andrea. Coming to this thing was a mistake. She hadn't done anything except clash with the people here, and it was a constant reminder of the fact that the differences between people in the muggle world and her life were growing exponentially. She wasn't even sure how much longer she could be friends with Andrea. She would have a magic job, befriend magic people and live in the wizarding area of London. How could she explain away an entirely secret life?

Not to mention the fact that the only thing different about her was her teeth. She still had the same bushy hair and same general shape as before, except that she'd obviously gotten older. So the only thing that had Todd coming up to her was the novelty of Hermione Granger six years later, and she would not indulge him.

She was on the brink of just leaving without saying anything when Jacob popped up beside her. "Hi."

"I see you ventured out of the house." She turned to look at him distractedly. "Careful, someone might mistake you for a fictional character and jump on your back."

"Yeah, I'll take my chances." He smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets. "As you rightfully pointed out, not all high school girls are like that, so I may as well give one a chance."

"A chance?"

"At changing my opinion."

"Lucky as that makes me, I was just getting ready to leave."

"Leave? Without even dancing one dance? That won't do." He was grinning at her in a way that made her flush, as if she was an interesting book he just couldn't put down. "I heard you've made quite a splash at this party."

"Yeah." She sighed heavily and he chuckled.

"That wasn't actually supposed to be a terrible joke. Do you want to dance?" The question was so abrupt and unexpected it took her a few seconds to process what he'd asked. A new song was just starting and it was roughly four minutes. Four minutes of inescapable time with Jacob.

"Sure." She stood up and he led her to the middle of the dancers. She placed her hands on his shoulders and was forced to move closer to him because of the way he rested his hands on her waist.

"When did you get back from school?" She asked, trying to avoid an awkward silence.

"Today, about the same time you fell in the pool." He smiled as she wrinkled her nose. "It must be destiny."

"Thanks. For jumping in."

"I didn't think you were in mortal danger," he paused, "But there was something really eerie about how you stopped moving, and I didn't want to take any chances."

"Thanks."

"Of course." There was another silence. "We do seem to have a lot of these, don't we?"

"Yes, we do." She smiled. "So what have you been up to these last few years?"

"Well, I'm done with my schooling in a month or so." He said lightly and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"That's exciting."

"Yeah. I plan on having my own place by then, I've started looking around. I hope to have my own chain of banks eventually, but I don't know quite how long it will take before that's accomplished." He went on, describing how he'd like a business run and where he planned on locating, including how he wanted to work up to it.

"Any plans for family in all that business?"

He looked a bit startled, "Of course, doesn't everyone? Getting married and having a couple kids would be ideal."

"Any idea who she'll be?" Hermione asked him, not entirely sure why she was blushing.

"Er, not really. Never found 'the one,' so to speak." She felt him shrug. "I like maturity, and a lot of the girls I've been out with act like they're still in high school."

"I'm in high school," she said, and the hurried on to explain why this was important. "Remember—not all high school girls are immature."

He grinned. "I haven't seen much maturity from you. You shouldn't slap people." He tsked her.

"It was completely warranted," she said with a small smile playing over her lips. "And that was a one-time offence. Or, I guess, two-time, really. But the last time."

"Second slap, eh? Who's the lucky receiver?"

"Draco Malfoy," she said after a brief hesitation. "Also completely warranted."

"Draco Malfoy? Who names their kid _that_?"

"I think it's a family thing." She said in reply.

"So who was he? A past boyfriend?"

"_Malfoy_? Oh, no. Someone I really do not get along with well. He's very arrogant and—well, he's just not someone I get on with."

"This isn't like a _Pride and Prejudice_ thing, is it? Bad first impression, carries through but ends in eventual love?"

She refrained from commenting on his knowledge of Jane Austen's work. "Love? Definitely not. And in terms of it just being a bad first impression, I don't think so. Sometimes I try to be generous and convince myself that he's this misunderstood person who's so wrapped up in the tradition and expectations of his family that he doesn't realize what he's become…but I've known him for years, and I think that's just wishful thinking."

"Seems like you've given him a lot of thought." She almost laughed incredulously at the situation—talking about Draco Malfoy with her childhood muggle crush.

"It happens when you spend six years fighting with someone," she said in return. "I think it's also just my instinct to want people to be better than they are."

"A good instinct to have," he said and smiled as the song ended. He stepped back, his eyes intent. "Well, I'll see you later I suppose."

Hermione watched him walk away, a puzzled frown on her face. It seemed like he'd just come out of the house to talk to her, but that seemed kind of odd. Someone ran past her and dumped cold beer down the back of her shirt and she gasped, leaping to the side. The boy in question ran away giggling as Andrea sidled up to her.

"Hey Hermione!" Andrea sidled up to her. "I saw you dancing with that guy! Who was he?"

Hermione looked at her friend and rolled her eyes. "Are you drunk?

"If I was why would I tell you?" Andrea giggled. "Are you staying over?"

"No. Actually I have a bit of a headache, I'm going to head out now."

"Yeah, okay." Andrea hugged her tightly. "We'll talk later."

As Hermione was walking to the front door to catch her cab she heard the sound of Jacob speaking on the front porch. "I know…yes…well, 17…My entire childhood, really. I don't know if I—Hermione!" He nearly dropped his cellphone as she came into view. "Er, I'll call you back."

"Hi. Sorry to startle you." She smiled while her mind raced. If she wasn't delusional, it sounded a lot like he was talking about her.

"Everyone needs their heart to stop once in awhile." He joked and they were plunged into silence again. "So you're leaving now?"

"Yeah, I'm really tired." She rolled her eyes and to her intense relief heard the approaching sound of a car. "That would be my taxi. I'll see you later, Jacob." She smiled and walked down to the end of the driveway, stopping just as the taxi pulled up.

"Good for you, calling a cab." The driver, a woman of about 40, said as she climbed in the back seat.

"I haven't been drinking. I just don't have a car." She corrected.

"Of course, dear. Do your parents know you're out?"

Hermione rubbed her temples wearily. "I don't live with my parents."

"Oh!" Hermione jumped at the woman's exclamation. "Moved out at such a young age, did you?"

"You could say that." She mumbled.

"Well you know my daughter moved out when she graduated from college. She's a doctor now, hasn't married though. Never found the right man. Have you got yourself a partner? 'Course you do, you're such a pretty little thing. You know my son married at eighteen to a woman that looked like you. A couple sizes bigger though. She had this habit of sucking on her hair really loudly. Quite annoying actually. Their marriage lasted two weeks. You know I never liked her…"

"Mhmm…"

"Well dear make sure you take some advil for your headache tomorrow. The hangover will be bad." Hermione opened her mouth to argue and then closed it. It wasn't worth the fight.

"That's right, dear. You know when I was your age I never got drunk. Though there weren't any parties with that much throttle or alcohol. None that I was invited to anyway. But that doesn't matter I've never really like alcohol. Except for vodka. God I love my vodka." They pulled into the driveway and Hermione was extremely relieved when she was able to escape.

She paid her fare and just before she closed the door threw in, "I'm not drunk."

Hermione made her way into the house slowly, her fatigue spreading to the very tips of her limbs. Despite how incredibly tired she was she wandered into the dark living room and sat down on the couch, leaning her head against an armrest with a sigh. There was something incredibly satisfying in sitting in a completely dark and silent room.

"I thought I told you to go _away_." A cold voice said and she leapt to her feet, her wand out in a matter of seconds. She cast a quick _lumos_ and steadied herself on the couch as Draco came into view.

"Back, are you?" He asked her, an eyebrow raised. "Move that damn light out of my face, Granger."

"_Yes_, I'm back." She redirected the light to just beside Draco's body.

"It's a pity, I was hoping the muggles might rally around you and never let you leave."

"What makes you think they like me any more than you do?" She snapped, rubbing at the base of her skull.

"Well, they're rather simple, aren't they? I just naturally assumed that if they got wind of someone who isn't a complete dimwit they'd gather around to examine such a spectacle."

"They're people, Malfoy. Not some rare specimen of frog."

"Like that stupid creature Longbottom totes around everywhere?" Draco said with his arms crossed over his chest. "I suppose that would be a rude comparison. For the frog."

"You disgust me." She snapped, purposefully shining the light back in his eyes. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep."

"Oh, I do mind. I would really _love_ if you stayed for a while longer and completely disrupt all my happiness and peace." He said, his tone almost as dark as his glare.

"Tempting, but too much sacrifice is involved." Hermione strode from the room, breathing deeply out of her nose. The next few minutes passed mostly in a blur, so the next morning when she woke up she almost couldn't remember collapsing into her bed and falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning Hermione padded to the kitchen in her pajamas, stifling a yawn. A full night's sleep never failed to cure her head and muscle aches and she felt loads better than the previous evening. Much to her surprise she walked in on Draco sitting at the table, reading The Daily Prophet.

"Oh!" she exclaimed before she could contain herself. He looked up, rolled his eyes and went back to the paper.

He was silent as she filled a bowl with cereal, doused it in milk and then took a seat at the table as far from him as possible. He was reading intently, a slight crease in his forehead, and couldn't help but watch him with interest. During school she usually tried to avoid looking at the Slytherin table, so she'd never witnessed him in the action of reading. "Interesting article?" She finally asked when curiosity overcame her sensibility.

"Not exactly." He flipped it around so she could see the full page spread titled 'The House of Hell? Or Heaven?' Right beside the title was a photograph of Sheila and James in a very staged position, both smiling their winning smiles. Midway through the page was a picture of Harry, Hermione and Ron across from one of Draco, Blaise and Pansy. The latter group was gathered around the base of a tree that Hermione didn't recognize as one from Hogwarts. Draco was leaning against the trunk, Blaise was lying on his back, propped on his elbows and Pansy was stretched out beside him. A mansion loomed in the background.

The one of her and the boys was similar in that it took place beside a lake, but this one was at Hogwarts. She and Ron were walking on either side of Harry, and the three of them were laughing together. Hermione had her arms wrapped around books and Ron was pointing out to the lake, where she assumed the giant squid had made an appearance.

Other small pictures dotted the page, a few of which she recognized as ones that had been in the Prophet during their fourth year, and the article was filled with all kinds of falsities about their lives pertaining to the show. It ended with the suggestion of going to page six, where personal biographies of each of them could be located.

"Rubbish." She muttered as she scanned through it. "'We know that there will be confrontations, fighting and many laughs. But will there also be love? And will the viewers be ready for it? We hope these young teenagers don't fight the cosmic feelings that may change life for them as they know it.' Who writes this?"

"Did you read the paragraph describing our unrequited love for each other? Apparently we're the favorite couple of the house." Draco said with a snort, glaring into his coffee as if it had personally offended him. "Like I would _ever_ go near _you_."

"You know you're sitting pretty near to me right now, Malfoy." Hermione answered, rolling her eyes when he edged his chair back in response. "Very mature of you."

"You know all about maturity, do you? You, with your cooties?" He sneered and got to his feet. "Well, this has been a delight, but I have places to be."

She watched as he strode to the dishwasher, fumbled with it until it opened, stuffed his mug in it and closed it with a triumphant smile. He turned, caught her watching him, and scowled. "Muggle rubbish."

Hermione turned back to the paper, her lips pressed together as she stared at the title. _Magic rubbish. _

Miles away a couple was looking at the newspaper with similar expressions of disappointment. "The reviews just aren't what we expected, James. Even with the star factor Harry brings there's no action, no drama, no promises of romance—nothing. If this show doesn't pick up people will lose interest."

"My dear, surely they'll start interacting more soon," James said in an effort to reassure his wife. "And when they do, something it bound to happen. I can feel it."

"They could all just decide to ignore each other. Or come to some kind of cohabitating truce. We've already got the Ministry expressing concern over the proximity to a muggle town, and the magic we've already had to do to build the house and not attract attention and—"

"Darling, breathe." James rested a hand over her own, squeezing. He looked up to the many screens that spanned the wall of the office. "This is when we help things along. Add our own spice to the recipe."

Sheila raised her head and followed his gaze, a smile growing on her lips. In times like these she loved her husband's guts.

**A/N Sorry that took so long! I had 1/4 of it written the day after I last updated and left it sitting until yesterday. **

**I'm not getting very good weather for the summer, right now its pouring rain! I'm not really doing anything interesting, my two younger siblings have/are going to camp and my older sister is in Europe right now. But I am staying home. :D All the more time to write, I suppose. Do any of you have any plans for the summer?**

**Please review! **


	6. Duck

**(2012)—Edited. **

**Disclaimer-How many times am I going to have to say this? I don't own it.**

Hermione heard the doorbell ring from her spot in the library, where she was pouring over an essay about the ways modern social conventions influenced and shaped the practice of charms. And ring. And ring. And keep on ringing. So she pulled herself away from the essay she was reading and went to answer it.

"Hello, darling." Sheila strode through the door and James followed, along with their entourage of guards. "Would you mind getting your friends for us?"

"Would you mind telling me why?" She asked in response, watching the guards size her up.

"Oh, there's no need for that." James smiled, "John can fetch them." One of the guards detached himself from the ranks of the others and lumbered away.

Sheila and took out a nail file. "How did you enjoy your party, Hermione?"

For a brief, wonderful moment she wondered how they even know about it, before remembering that she was being filmed at all hours of the day. "It was fine."

"Who _was _that delicious guy you were dancing with?"

Hermione ignored her last question. Under no circumstances would she identify Jacob as a 'delicious guy'. "Wait—how do you know I was dancing with someone?"

"The cameras, dear. Do we have to explain this whole being-filmed-constantly concept to you again?"

"But I was out of the house," Hermione frowned. "Do the cameras follow us around?"

"Yes, they do." James said with a grin. "The only places they don't go are the ones with a special charm around the door to keep them out."

"That's…" _Smart. _"I have a question for you, actually. Where did you get all the pictures of us that you use for the show? The ones of our eyes in the song, for example."

James shrugged in response as Sheila kept filing. "Honestly, we just hired some people to put together a portfolio on you. So we're not even really sure."

Hermione frowned at this news. "Portfolio?"

"Of course you have a portfolio," Sheila watched her as if she'd just announced she would be backpacking through an active volcano. "Take it as a compliment."

"I'd like to see mine." She said anyway, determined to see anything they'd collected on her.

"The material belongs to the show." Sheila answered, her hand pausing mid-file.

Hermione crossed her arms. "You can't legally withhold this information from me, when it was obviously obtained without my permission. Especially considering you didn't have my consent before I came on this program—"

"Actually, your guardian acted on your behalf," James interjected as the rest of her house mates filtered in. "Perfectly legal."

"Now now, Hermione." Sheila smiled at her, "Pretty face back on, please."

Harry and Ron joined them in the room and she wheeled around to face them. "Did you know that they have portfolios with information and pictures on each of us?"

"Information?" Ron frowned, head cocked to the side. "I'm sure there's a load on me, but what kind of information could they possibly have about you or Harry?"

Harry smiled tightly. "Honestly, I'd rather not even know. I'll bet its all complete lies."

"I want to see mine." Hermione turned back to them. "We could take this to the Wizengamot. You know there are all kinds of wizarding laws that apply to this situation, including distribution of information and—"

"Okay," James finally said. "If you'll _stop _talking we'll let you see them."

"Fine." She finally agreed, reaching for hers when Sheila conjured them. As she thumbed through the pages she snorted with disgust. "This is complete rubbish. It's just random photographs, journal articles I'm mentioned in from fourth year and a ton of speculation."

James grinned sheepishly. "Yes, well…"

Sheila moved forward and breezed by them into the living room impatiently. "If you don't mind we'd like to carry on, now. We've decided to make things a bit more exciting in here. A few new rules, you could say." All the inhabitants groaned.

"Now, now, I think you might be happy about these. They're not so much rules as _activities_. Like games."

"Activities?" Pansy grimaced, as if there was nothing in the world that interested her less than any activities Sheila and James had planned.

"Yes." James grinned. "The first one, a scavenger hunt, is tomorrow. The groups are as follows, Pansy and Hermione, Ron and Blaise, and Harry and Draco."

Each member of the group turned to their counterpart and grimaced in distate.

"You have to meet us down here at 11:00 sharp. If you win, you get a prize that I'm sure you'll be quite interested in." They all perked up. "Bring along a bag and some money. We'll give you the rules when you get down, and then drop you off in your different stations."

"Right now, however, we're going to give you one hour to group with your partner and discuss strategy. The only thing we can tell you now is that you cannot use magic."

"How about we forgo the group meetings?" Draco spoke aloud, and Ron was in the process of agreeing when Sheila cut in frostily.

"It's mandatory. So start strategizing."

Reluctantly they all moved over to their partners and split off. Hermione and Pansy sat down on one of the couches and neither spoke for about a minute or so, before Hermione gave in. "Alright, so I think it would be best if we categorized everything on the hunt list by what store we're most likely to find them in when we get it tomorrow. That way we'll be much more organized."

Pansy turned to look at her like she was a slug who was crawling over her shoe. "I've never been to the village, so I really don't know how you propose we do that."

"I have," Hermione said in reply, deciding to ignore the expression of distaste. "I'll make a list of store names, or the kind of store we should look for. That should make categorizing them tomorrow faster."

With a shrug Pansy leaned back. "Whatever reduces our time spent together is fine by me, Granger."

Hermione pulled out her notebook and began to scribble. "The first is the grocery store, which also sells other random items, like paper or pens…"

* * *

"You realize, Weasley, that we have the biggest disadvantage here? Neither of us is accustomed to muggle anything." Blaise said and looked at the red-head across from him at the table. He could see Hermione and Pansy hunched over a notebook, while Harry and Draco seemed to be bickering.

"Which is why I think we should just give the list to someone in every store and ask them to get it for us. Quickest way." Ron answered and Blaise nodded slowly, watching him.

"How will we pay?"

"With money." Ron said and rolled his eyes. "I guess cunning doesn't really cover intelligent, does it?"

"I mean, do _you_ know muggle currency, because I don't." Blaise snapped, his back stiffening.

"No," Ron admitted. "I can always ask Hermione tonight. Or we can say we're foreign, tons of wizards do that when they mingle with the muggle world."

"Fine." Blaise said and they lapsed into silence.

"So we have to wait here for an hour…?"

* * *

"Look Potter I think we both know that we're not going to win so I think we should ditch the hunt and go to a bar or something. I need a drink. I'm sick of being in this bloody house." Draco said after they finished glaring at each other and silently telling the other to go to hell.

"Unlike you, Malfoy, my first instinct isn't giving up." Harry said in a stiff voice. "I want to win. But by all means, drink yourself to death today. Maybe they'll let us have a party tomorrow instead of doing the 'activity.'"

Draco raised an eyebrow in response. "How hostile of you, Potter."

"Malfoy, we don't have to get along to win. All we have to do is keep from using magic and we have a chance. There's a chance the prize could mean getting out of this house, and I wouldn't mind going to Diagon Alley or something for a bit." Harry shook his head, wondering in what universe he had to be in to try and work with Draco as a team. "That might be the prize."

"I suppose you have nowhere else to go, do you?" Draco sneered. "Or are you afraid to bring me along to see your Weasel girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend." Harry snapped and then forced himself to breath deeply. "Listen, all we have to do is take the list and search every single store for what we need. It's easy. Okay?"

"Fine. But we're not agreeing."

"Definitely not," Harry said, "we're just looking towards the same goal."

Draco nodded once, sharply, and then they plunged into silence, ready to wait out the hour with no talking rather then having a conversation with each other.

* * *

During dinner that night Ron started asking Hermione about muggle money, so she explained the different values of the bills and coins. She invited Pansy to sit with them, thinking it might help them the next day. Although it dampened Ron's spirits and shocked Hermione's the blond agreed.

Besides Ron's questions that she couldn't answer ('But why is it paper?' 'Because it just _is_, Ron.') he seemed to understand everything and definitely had a better grasp on what she'd taught him. After she'd finished explaining Pansy asked, rather politely, too, that Hermione come to her room in twenty minutes. Surprised, she agreed and bade the other girl farewell.

Ron waited until Pansy was out the door before he turned to Hermione. "What's up with you and Parkinson?"

Hermione shrugged and cleared up the money she'd taken out to show them. "If we want to win then Pansy and I are going to have to get along. Besides, we're going to be here for a while, so I think it might be a good idea to try and improve our relationship."

"I am not going to try to be friends with any Slytherin, especially not those three."

"I never said I was going to be with friends with her. I just don't want to spend the entire summer trying to avoid them, or fighting them so that people across Britain can watch me arguing. Besides, if things improve next year may be a lot more peaceful."

"I'm not befriending one!" Ron insisted, getting to his feet and pacing back and forth across the small space. "The way I see it, as long as I don't have to look at Malfoy's pointy face, this summer won't be so bad. Avoidance is the best thing."

Hermione got to her feet and the pair headed out of the kitchen. "I told you, Ron. I'm not trying to befriend anyone. Just have some kind of working relationship. Avoidance isn't going to work for the whole summer."

"We'll see about that. Anyway, I'm going to play with the telly-vishion."

She giggled at his mis-pronunciation and headed upstairs. As she passed Blaise in the halls he nodded slightly in recognition of her presence. She knocked on Pansy's door and it swung open to reveal the blonde girl holding the basket they'd all been given.

"Follow me." She past Hermione and led her into the bathroom, where she closed the door tightly. "I need you to teach me how to use these."

"You want my help…to learn to use muggle objects?" She asked, wrapping her mind around the idea.

Pansy nodded, "I just want to know how to use them."

"Which one do you want to learn about first?" She asked and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. Pansy was still a whiny snob to her, but if she was asking about muggle technology it was already an improvement. Maybe all she needed was the right influence to change her ways, and since they would be there the entire summer, Hermione might as well be that influence.

"This one." She held up her camera.

Hermione took it and held it up in her palm. "This is a digital camera. Basically it takes pictures that don't move and are stored on a memory chip attached to this so you can view them. To turn it on you press this little circular button right there…" She pointed and pressed it, "to turn it off you press it again and hold for about three seconds."

Pansy nodded and Hermione told her to freeze, then she snapped a picture of her. "Here, to view a picture you press the button near the bottom right corner, it's a circle and has an arrow pointing to the right." She got Pansy to push it and the picture she'd just taken appeared on the rectangular screen.

"I can't believe they really don't move." Pansy exclaimed. Hermione smiled at the girl's astonishment and went on explaining the basic controls that would be necessary to know for picture taking. When she finally glanced at the time she realized it was already 10:00 and they'd been talking for several hours.

"Oh! We should probably go to sleep soon, I don't want to be tired tomorrow."

Pansy looked up from playing with the options dial and snapped a picture of her. "Okay. For awhile I forgot those gits were making us their puppets."

"Yeah, I can't believe my parents agreed to this." Hermione grumbled and then sighed, "we can't do anything without being caught on tape. Except when we're in here."

"Don't pretend you don't like the attention. Isn't that what you Gryffindors thrive on?" Pansy asked her, and there was only a hint of malice in her voice so Hermione forced herself to wait five seconds before replying.

"No. Not at all. Everyone I know hates attention." Hermione finally said, unwilling to go into details about just who and how much.

Pansy looked unconvinced. "Well, I need to go to bed. Meet me here tomorrow at 7? There's more to do."

Hermione didn't understand Pansy Parkinson, that much was clear. But she felt she owed it to the other girl to at least give her a chance, because she hadn't started off on any rants about blood purity yet. "Alright."

Pansy gathered all her belongings up and they split up in the hall, going their separate ways as though they hadn't spent the last few hours together. Before she went to sleep Hermione browsed through her instruction manual for the camera so she could explain more the next evening and then fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Hermione woke up and showered, mentally preparing herself for the challenge and Pansy's. After she'd eaten breakfast she went to her teammate's room, knocking once before Pansy swung it open.

"Granger?"

"Er, yeah. I just wanted to make sure you're ready for the challenge."

Pansy nodded and stepped back, forcing Hermione to stop the door from closing on her. Hermione began to talk as Pansy brushed through her damp hair. "You'll want sneakers so we can have good mobility. A backpack of some kind, or a large bag. We don't know how much stuff we'll have to carry, so better to be too prepared. Have you given any thought to how much money you'll bring?"

She looked at Hermione and blinked once. "I thought I'd bring one hundred pounds."

Hermione nodded, "I'm going to bring fifty, so if you bring fifty too, we should have enough. I'm also bringing a notebook and a pen, so we can jot down the things in our store categories."

"You seem to have put a lot of thought into this." The Slytherin dried her hair quickly with her wand and then used a hair band to keep it out of her eyes.

"I'm interested in the kinds of things we'll be given if we win. If they let us get away from this place, it will make us all a lot more competitive." The feeling that she was constantly being watched was not one she enjoyed experiencing, even if it sometimes slipped her mind. The absence of visible cameras made it easier to pretend she wasn't always being watched, but there were still moments she couldn't seem to forget it.

"I think there's something we need to get straight before we continue," Pansy said, and met her eyes. Her next words were enunciated clearly. "We're not friends."

Hermione blinked, startled, and then nodding slowly. "Of course. This is just to win."

Pansy nodded, "Exactly."

"What time is it, anyway?" Hermione asked, running her hands up and down her arms as she stood.

Pansy pulled a watch from her pocket and glanced at it, "10:30."

"Okay. I'm going for a cup of tea…I suppose I'll see you down there."

She let herself into her room and glanced back at Pansy. She caught sight of a blonde head of hair before it closed with a snap.

Draco, Blaise and Harry were downstairs eating breakfast. Draco was sitting at one end of the table reading the paper, Harry was directly opposite him eating cereal, and Blaise sat on Draco's right reading a letter. They were sitting in silence and all three had their wands beside them on the table. She dropped her bag on a chair by Harry and put the kettle on.

"Ron isn't up yet?"

Harry finished chewing his cereal and shook his head. "I'll have to go wake him up when I go back upstairs, if he's not up by then."

She smiled and fished a teabag from the box. "He'll have to eat fast."

Harry chuckled, drawing Blaise's attention. "Doesn't he always? Mrs. Weasley would probably have a fit if she saw his eating habits. He's not as bad at home as he is at Hogwarts."

She poured some milk into her cup as she replied. "I suppose he wouldn't be Ron if he didn't eat like that. It's one of his less appealing but definitely characteristic habits."

"I wonder if the wizarding world thinks of it that way."

She waited until the kettle had boiled and then poured the hot water into the mug, taking a seat at the table and tracing her fingers over the grains of wood.

It was then that Pansy appeared and made a quick breakfast. They spent the remainder of their time in silence until Ron came dashing into the kitchen ('Why didn't you wake me?') and gulped down a bowl of cereal. There was a faint knocking on the door that no one seemed inclined to answer so they waited for Sheila and James to let themselves in.

"Oh good, we're all here." James smiled widely at the six. "Did everyone sleep well?"

There were a few mumbles of no real answer. "Lovely." Sheila smiled. "Would you all please move to sit with your partner?" They shuffled around reluctantly.

"Thank-you. So we're going to give you a list of items that can be found somewhere in the village. You have until one o'clock, at which point the challenge is forfeit. If you find all the items before them hurry back, because the first team back with all the items is the winner. You can't split up, you can't join another team, and as we said before, you can't use magic."

James flashed them all a smile, "Do you want to know the prize?"

They nodded and he grinned. "You and your partner get a prepaid dinner at this lovely French restaurant Sheila and I went to the other day, they serve a _great_ foie gras—er, right. You also get one hour at a location of your choice, though it must be somewhere in Britain. It will not be filmed."

If there was one thing that could have made them be more determined to win, it was the idea of time off camera.

"Now please collect yours bags and meet back here in five minutes."

The group assembled quickly and they were transported down to the village in a limousine, which she found utterly ridiculous.

They drove slowly, giving Hermione plenty of time to think about where she would go if she won. As they stopped she decided that if they did, she would go to Andrea's. She didn't want the cameras inside her actual house, and since she'd already been filmed at Andrea's there was nothing much she could do about that.

"Hermione and Pansy, this is you." She stood up and followed Pansy back out of the vehicle. They stood back and watched it pull away from them and drive down the street, attracting curious looks from shoppers. The road they were on was lined with shops because the village wasn't big enough to have a mall. In fact the Fire Department, Police Station and Medical Health Centers were all located in Great Hangleton, their sister town. Surrounding the large strip were streets with houses on them.

As soon as the limo was gone Hermione settled against the side of the grocery store and pulled out a notebook and a pen. She looked at Pansy expectantly, who began to read the list she'd been given.

"A rubber duck." The blonde blinked uncertainly and Hermione paused.

"The Department or grocery store." She scribbled it down in her book and then looked up again.

"A leaf from a maple tree."

"I suppose we'll have to find a maple tree… Next."

"A pink pen."

"Department Store…Next."

"A heart shaped rock."

"On the ground, I suppose…Next."

"Herbal Essence shampoo."

"Department store…Next."

"The second season of Friends."

"Movie and music store…Next."

"A wedding picture."

Hermione paused, "Anywhere I suppose. When I came down here I got a pretty thorough look of the street and I didn't see an art store."

"A painting of the landscape."

"Maybe there _is _an art store…keep your eyes open."

"A beer."

"The grocery store…Next." Suddenly orange sparks came into Hermione's line of vision. "We need to hurry."

"A picture of someone named Jack."

"Slightly problematic, we'll ask around if anyone knows someone by that name."

"Mint gum."

Her pen was moving so quickly it was a blur, "the grocery store, I think."

"Two pairs of sunglasses, sunblock, and one article of clothing."

"Clothing store, and drug store. Next."

"We both have to get the phone number of someone of the opposite sex and a CD."

"Music store and we'll have to ask strangers."

"That's it." Pansy looked up and Hermione jumped to her feet as she threw her bag over her shoulder.

"Okay, the grocery store is closest let's go there first." They climbed the two stairs leading up into the store.

"A rubber duck, mint gum, a beer, we should ask about Jack while looking for a wedding picture, picture of the landscape and a rock shaped like a heart." They stepped inside.

"Let the games begin." Hermione muttered.

* * *

Harry and Draco were deposited beside the department store. Draco stared down the street as if he'd just been dropped into his worst nightmare, while Harry snatched the list from his hand and held it in front of his face.

"A rubber duck…" Harry read the first item of the list.

"What the hell do muggles use rubber ducks for?"

"Er…Dudley used one in his bath once but chucked it out the window because he sat on it and it popped."

"Dudley?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"My cousin." Harry said and returned his gaze to the list. "A leaf from a maple tree."

Draco scanned the area surrounding them, "I don't see a bloody maple tree."

"Maybe there's a fake tree somewhere. It doesn't say it has to be real. We need a pink pen."

"A pen?"

"It's like the muggle version of a quill."

Their conversation was put to hold as sparks blew up in front of their faces signaling the start.

"Let's go into the department store first." Harry said quickly, leading the way to the front door of the building. "Let the games begin, I guess."

* * *

Ron stepped out of the limo after Blaise and watched it drive away before turning to his partner. The village was the kind his sister might describe as quaint, but personally he thought it was quite uninspiring. "Read the list."

Blaise read through all the items and when he reached the bottom looked up and stared at Ron in silence. "Right. Well, this is just dandy. I don't know where muggles would even sell _half_ these things, and now we have to wait for sparks—" Sparks erupted before their eyes and they both started.

"May as well start anywhere." Ron said, gesturing across the street at the first store he saw. "How about that?"

Blaise followed the line of his arm, "Adult Video Store? Sounds good to me. I wonder why the windows are covered."

Ron shrugged, "probably the muggles are just paranoid."

They set off across the street quickly and leapt up the steps into the shop.

Let the games begin, indeed.

**A/N Eclipse is out today! I'm so excited. I cannot wait to read it. I thought I'd post this chapter up first so I can get lost in Bella's life and not feel guilty about updating. :D**

**By the way I am open to suggestions about other activities, if you have any.**

**Please review!**


	7. Riddle

Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter

**Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter.**

"Beer…" Hermione said slowly, "should be over that way." She pointed to the sign reading 'beverages' and they walked in that direction. She took a pack of two, since she couldn't find a single and didn't want to waste time looking.

"A rubber duck." Because she had absolutely no idea where they could find one she ran a quick scan of every aisle, Pansy in tow. "Maybe they don't sell them here, let's ask by the cash."

Pansy followed her over and picked up a package of mint gum from a stand nearby (she also picked up a large amount of bulk candy after examining the different kinds with fascination). After minutes of fidgeting restlessly they found themselves at the head of the line.

"Do you sell rubber ducks here?" Hermione asked as she pulled her wallet from her bag.

"Hi Hermione." Pam's voice said boredly, "and nope, no duckies here. Sorry."

She rang through their items and Hermione thrust money into her hand before she could ask for it. "Do you know anyone named Jack?"

"Jack? Yeah I think my mom mentioned some old guy named Jack living around here. Not personally, though."

"Okay, thanks anyway." Hermione smiled, "talk to you later!"

Pam barely had time to wave as the two girls hurried out of the exit.

"The Department store…" Pansy said, "a pink pen, Herbal Essence shampoo, sunblock and keep looking for a rubber duck."

"Let's go then," Hermione said and they continued up the road.

-

-

Harry and Draco had gone through every aisle in the store and had found the shampoo, sunblock, sunglasses, and a cheap pair of socks.

"Let's go, you git." Harry tugged Draco away from a magazine featuring Jessica Alba.

The girl at the cash smiled readily at the two of them when they stepped up to it. "That's it?" Draco nodded. "Okay." Harry handed over some money, thankful that she hadn't noticed the looks Draco was shooting the machine.

"Here is your change, have a great day." She flashed them both a smile and winked at Draco.

"Thanks." Harry said and stuffed their purchases into his bag. As he neared the door he realized Draco wasn't with him and turned around. The blond was leaning against the counter, flirting with the girl who was responding enthusiastically.

"Malfoy!" Harry said exasperatedly, "come _on_." Draco turned to look at him, the charming smile on his face dropped to one of loathing. He shook his head jerkily and then turned back to the girl. A minute or so later he approached a fuming Harry and flashed a piece of paper at Harry.

_732-6592_

Beneath the numbers was 'Sherry' written with flourish.

"You still have to get one." Draco said, smirking as Harry's eyes flicked across the paper.

"Right." Was all he said and then turned abruptly, leading Draco from the store.

-

-

Blaise stepped into the store after Ron and they headed straight to the cash, ready to hand over the items list. However, when he scanned the room he felt his eyes widen.

"Weasley… have you looked around?" His voice was calm in the way voices were when the person speaking was on the brink of losing it. Ron noticed this and turned to look at what Blaise was looking at. A blush crept up his neck and his ears turned red.

"Holy shit." He said, "what _is_ this?"

"Ah yes, that's one of our more complex models." A voice behind them made them both jump. Ron and Blaise both whirled around, Ron still holding the mysterious object. A man of about twenty four was standing in front of them, smiling in a knowing way.

"You want this? Okay, feel free to look around." He took the object from Ron's hands.

"What? No we don't- we're not really-I'm not sure-" Blaise couldn't help sniggering as Ron stammered.

"You don't know what to look for?" He supplied, his voice almost mocking. "Okay, well for a couple like you two I think you might really enjoy this." He pulled a DVD from a stand, along with a magazine and showed them pictures by leafing through. To Blaise's complete embarrassment and utter horror, the people weren't men and women, they were all men.

"Is that even _normal_?" He found himself asking as heat rose to his face. Not only were the people in the pictures frozen, they were in highly unnatural positions. Although he'd had his fair share, possibly more, of physical activities with other people, it would be a lie to say he'd ever done anything like what was shown in the pictures. Ron's face was quite purple and he was trying to look anywhere but the images, which resulted in him staring at the floor.

"I'd also suggest this, it's for the inexperienced and provides some good tips for couples like you." He shove another DVD at them, which contained explicit pictures on the cover as well. He continued down the row, occasionally pulling out DVD's.

"No, we're looking for these." Ron finally managed to shove their list into the man's hands and dump everything they'd been given onto on of the shelves.

"Oh," the man scanned the list and shot them both confused looks, "okay. We have a rubber duck, but nothing else."

Wondering why they had a rubber duck amid everything else in the store, Blaise followed the man to the counter and watched him ring in the duck and, to his chagrin, the thing Ron had originally picked up. He wanted to get out of the store as soon as possible and Ron obviously felt the same since he just shoved money into the man's hand without saying anything.

"You're short."

"What?" Ron asked, looking confused.

"You're short money."

"Oh." Ron said, and after shooting a nervous look at Blaise he handed over more money. "We're sort of new in this area. Foreign, you know? Haven't really gotten the hang of this money." Thinking back to the Quidditch Cup, when they'd been asked if they were foreign, he hoped it would work.

"Okay, yeah." The man gave them the bag with their purchases and they high tailed it out of there.

"Never choose what store we go into ever again." Blaise said when they'd run half-way down the street.

"Yeah, right." Ron said, his face still red. "Let's go."

With another furtive glance back at the store they started moving again.

-

-

"Come on, Granger!" Pansy called. Hermione was bending over a small collection of rocks, searching through them for one that was heart shaped.

"Why don't you come help me!" She shouted back irritably. She may as well be doing everything for all the help Pansy was being. So the other girl joined her and they sifted through the stones, though none came close to the right shape.

"Why don't we just use magic?" Pansy asked with an edge of frustration to her voice after they finished their rapid searching.

"Because that's against the rules." Hermione rolled her eyes and they set off back down the street, passing the sinister looking grave-yard.

"Life isn't about rules, Granger."

Hermione sighed exasperatedly, "we can't win if we use magic. And if we don't win, we can't be off camera." She could tell she'd already won that argument.

"Fine. Now hurry up we lost time looking through those stupid rocks."

They hurried towards the Department store and as they neared it saw Harry and Draco standing several meters away and seemed to be bickering. "Hurry! If they're fighting now we might be able to overtake them! It doesn't look like they're doing well, we could win!"

They hurried inside and gathered up sunblock, the pen and shampoo. Unfortunately there was still no duck. On the way to the cash Pansy pointed to a postcard with a picture of a couple getting married on it and she snatched it up. When they left the store they saw that the spot where Harry and Draco had been was now vacated.

"Where to next?"

"The, erm," Pansy looked at the list and glanced around, "movie store."

Hermione followed her gaze and snorted. "Adult movie store? That's definitely not the movie store we want."

"It says toys though." Pansy pointed out a sign near the door. "See? Toys toys toys."

"Not that kind of toys." She laughed, "There, electronics. Let's try there."

They set off down the road and suddenly Hermione said, "look!" She was pointing to a tree planted outside a clothing store. "It's a maple."

They dashed over to it and stood, staring. "It's not very big." Pansy muttered and ripped off a leaf off a branch.

"It's not fully grown," Hermione said and pressed it into her notebook. "Okay, let's go. We should probably look for an article of clothing in there."

She began walking but halted when she saw Pansy staring at the base of the tree. "Look."

It turned out that the tree had been planted and then a small collection of rocks had been placed around the trunk. Heart-shaped rocks. Imbedded in the ground, glossy and smooth, was a plaque.

_In memory of the family _

_That contributed to this store_

_And lost their lives so mysteriously_

_Rest in piece_

Pansy picked up on of the rocks. It was perfectly symmetrical and she turned it over in her fingers for a few seconds before handing it to Hermione, who tucked it safely away in her bag.

For some reason walking away seemed disrespectful, and so she didn't move. Neither of them knew quite how long they stood there, simply looking at the memorial, because for some reason it seemed like time didn't even exist anymore.

"Okay, then," Hermione finally tore herself away, "we have to hurry."

As they both turned away and took the first step forward, sighs escaped their lips for an unknown reason.

-

-

"What's with that building?" Draco asked, looking towards the boarded up Adult move store.

Harry looked over his shoulder and shook his head, "it's boarded up so no one can see inside, idiot. Now let's go."

Draco scowled, "don't tell me what to do, Potter. It's not like we have much of a chance, anyway."

Harry rolled his eyes, "well I don't want to stand around having a nice little conversation with you. Let's _go_."

Draco's eyes focused on something over Harry's shoulder. "Don't look, but its Pansy and Granger. Pretend we're arguing, it will give them a false sense of security."

"We are arguing, Malfoy. That's what happens when two people who hate each other say nasty things." He said it in a mocking tone.

"Wow, Potter, your intelligence has astonished me." He said sarcastically.

"Oh, you can actually feel surprised? And here I was under the impression you couldn't do anything unless you went and groveled at-"

It was probably best that Hermione and Pansy had disappeared into the shop, causing them both to take off down the road and disappear into a tuck shop.

"What's that?" Draco pointed to a shelf with a rusty coffee machine on it.

"Shut it," Harry hissed, "if you keep pointing at normal things and asking what they are you'll attract attention."

Draco snorted, "what do we need?"

"A duck, a pen, a rock, gum, Friends, wedding picture-"

"Like that?" Draco pointed to a painting propped up by the cash register.

"Yeah," Harry said grudgingly, "so go get it."

"Don't tell me what to do," Draco snapped, "you get it."

"You saw it, Malfoy. You get it, I'm not your slave." The two men stood, glowering at each other.

"Excuse me but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. Is this what you were looking for?" A girl with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes held the picture they'd been arguing about up.

"Yeah, thanks." Harry said and took the painting. He looked down at the list and then back up at the girl, hit with a thought. "I'm Harry."

"Lucille." She smiled. "Are you new in town?"

"Yeah, yeah I am." He said and cleared his throat nervously, "I don't want to be, er, too…forward. But maybe sometime, er, you and I? I mean, er, we could, er," he thought back to the Yule Ball, "couldIhaveyournumber?"

"Sure," Lucille breathed and scribbled onto a piece of paper _739-0121_.

"Do you know anyone named Jack?" Draco asked as Harry slipped the paper into his pocket.

"Jack? Sorry, no."

"That's okay." Harry said though he mentally sighed, "we're, er, going to look around now. So I'll, er, talk to you later?"

"Yes, definitely." She smiled and as she walked away Draco pulled Harry behind one of the shelves and sniggered.

"You really are rubbish with girls."

"I got her phone number!" Harry defended himself loudly.

Draco rolled his eyes, "yeah and now she thinks you're going to call her. If you don't she'll probably cry or something. Plus she'll gossip and no one in this village will consider you."

"I don't care if no one in this village will cons-"

" Because you're in love with Weasel's sister, I know, I know. But Potter that means anywhere you go there will be a mass of angry, un-considering girls. Some of the more crazy ones might even come to the house in search of you. The Prophet will have a field day."

"What about that Sherry woman? She'll want you to call her."

"I never said I was going to call her or was even considering calling her. All I did was flirt a little and she gave me her number."

Harry paused, thoroughly annoyed that Draco actually had the sense to think that far into something. "I hate to break it to you but my life isn't so un-complicated that I can spend hours at a time thinking over how I can trick girls into liking me and then disappointing them."

"Yeah, yeah Potter we all know your sad story, now let's get on with it." He and Harry stood still for at least three minutes, scowling at each other before Harry finally turned away.

"Right." He muttered, "right. This is stupid, I don't want to see that much of your face. Right."

"Yes, I am." Draco smirked, "right. Glad you've got that sorted out."

"Oh shut up, Malfoy." Harry snapped, "now what do we need?"

"A duck, leaf, pen, rock, sunglasses, gum, Friends, landscape, beer, Jack and a CD." When he was finished reading the list he just looked up at Harry blankly.

"Just follow me, then, got it?" Harry said gruffly.

Before Draco could respond he set off down the aisle, pausing every so often to examine something closer. Draco trailed after him, holding the second hand copy of Friends that Harry gave him, a battered CD, and a charcoal drawing labeled Jack that they both assumed would work.

After handing over some money they left, but almost as quickly as they'd stepped out the door they ducked behind the wall: Blaise and Ron had just emerged from The Hanged Man.

-

-

"Okay, so we have a rubber duck now. But nothing else. Let's go into that store." Blaise pointed to the electronics store right across from them. Ron checked his watch and was astonished to see that it was already 12:00. An hour had already gone by.

He handed the list over to the girl behind the counter. "We're looking for any of the items on this list."

"Oh." She scanned it quickly, "yeah. Follow me."

She led them to an aisle full of DVD cases and picked one out from under a sign reading 'hit series.'

"What kind of music do you like?"

"Er…"

"Okay, well here, I'll show you stuff I like." As they followed her down another aisle she said, "I like Linkin Park-"

"Me too." Blaise said quickly, "could we have that one?"

"Alright." She picked a CD case off another shelf. "Is that all?"

"Yeah."

As she rang through their items Ron spoke up suddenly, "oh and can I have your number?"

A blush rose on her cheeks, "oh. Er, well, wow," she laughed nervously, "I'm, er, sorry but I don't even know you."

"Okay." Ron said, not even understanding the significance of her words: that he'd been rejected.

She gave them the bag and hurried away, still red in the face.

"What is a number?" Blaise asked as they turned on the street, "do muggles have ID tags or something?"

"I think you can use the telly-phone to contact them with that number. It's really weird, I've tried using one before."

"Huh." Blaise said thoughtfully. Ten minutes later they'd been inside the clothing store and had picked up a t-shirt and, after having spotted the tree, picked off a leaf.

"I don't know what a Tuck Shop is, do you?" Ron asked in reference to the store across from them.

"No, and I think we should avoid things with weird names. Hey, let's go in that pub."

"Yeah, sounds good."

And so they found themselves inside a smoky pub at the bar, being examined at all sides by the building's occupants.

"Can I have a, er, beer?" Ron asked after glancing at the list.

"How old are yeh?" The man asked his, squinting suspiciously.

"Seventeen."

"I can't sell yeh beer if yer not of age."

"I am of age!" Ron said hotly, he'd been seventeen for awhile now!

"Not in this world yer not."

Automatically he tensed up. How did this man know? Was he a wizard? A squib? Did the ministry know he had intelligence of their world? What should he do? What should he _say_?

"I'll take a beer, then, and drink alone." Blaise cut in smoothly and passed a ten pound note across the counter. As the man turned to get him the drink he shot Ron a warning look.

The red head couldn't help but scowl at the unfairness of this and marched to the door as Blaise received the amber liquid in a bottle. There was a table of women ranging from 20-23 and he stepped up to.

"Can I have your number?" He asked a brunette girl with heavy blue eye shadow and red lipstick.

"Ooh, a bold one. I absolutely _love_ a man that takes command. In more ways then one." She winked at Ron and the other women tittered excitedly. "Here you go cutie." To his embarrassment she reached into her low-cut shirt and pulled a small card out of it.

_Dot- 739-1564_

"Dot?" He asked before he could stop himself.

"After my grandmother."

"T-thanks." He stammered.

"Let's go." Blaise muttered; the rest of the table had turned to eye him greedily.

They left and both took deep breaths as they were released from the smoky confines within. Suddenly Blaise whirled to face the door to the Tuck Shop.

"What?"

"I thought I saw Draco." Blaise frowned, "hmm…"

"We should keep moving." Ron said, "we're losing time!"

Their next stop was the Department Store, where they picked up the pen, shampoo, sunglasses, wedding picture, and sunblock. When they re-emerged they had half an hour until they had to be back at the house.

"Hi I'm looking for these things." Ron handed the list to a girl with black hair cropped short and grass green eyes who looked extremely bored.

"Ok, sure, I can help you." She took the list and scanned it, "huh. Okay well follow me. I'm Pam, by the way." She called back to them as she set off walking.

"Here," she thrust a pack of gum at them as she grabbed it off a stand. "So what are your names?"

"Blaise."

"Ron."

"Cool." She stuffed painting at Blaise and carried on, " you know you're not the first person who's been in here asking for someone named Jack."

"Oh, really?" Blaise said, trying to sound interested. It wasn't as though he hadn't realized this would happen, there were four other people looking for the exact same thing.

"Unfortunately I don't know who that is, or what you're looking for so all I can give you is this stuff." She gestured at the items Ron was holding. "So shall I ring you in?"

"Er, yeah."

"Okay." As she handed them a bag with their purchases Blaise spoke up suddenly.

"So can I have your number?"

"Hmm…" Pam pursed her lips thoughtfully and looked Blaise up and down. "Yeah, sure." She scribbled it down and handed it to him. "Oh and I can tell your not going to call me, already, so can you please not be bothered that I only gave it to you because you're hot."

"What?"

She laughed, "never mind. If you ever do get interested, though, I'll tell you now, my affections are taken."

"Really?" Blaise asked, "by who?" (He didn't really know what she was talking about but pretended he understood everything.

"Him." She was looking over their shoulders and both turned to look. The guy she was looking at had black hair with red tips and was laughing with another cashier. "But if you ever say anything I will hunt you down."

"Oh, okay." Blaise said but Ron's eyes had bugged out of his head.

"Him? You _like_ him?"

"Yeah, why? Is that a problem?" She asked, giving him a strange look.

"Well that guy must be hitting on everyone, then!"

"What are you talking about?" She asked, looking very confused.

"He was getting all up close with my friend Hermione." Ron glowered at the man.

"Hermione?" Pam's eyes widened, "she's my friend. Do you live with her?"

"Yes." Ron said.

"And he was flirting with her?"

"Yes."

"Oh." She turned very suddenly to Blaise, "maybe we should go out sometime."

"Yeah, yeah definitely." He said, now quite confused. This girl had just said she liked that guy, but now she was saying _they_ should go out? It didn't make sense.

Pam turned to look at the guy once more before banging something really noisy on the desk. "Sorry!" She shouted loudly then turned to Blaise and said in a very audible voice, "so tonight would be great." She leaned forward and, to his shock, kissed him right on the lips, in front of everyone. "Call me." She whispered and leaned back. Everyone was watching, including Mike.

Blaise, who was still in a shocked stupor, and Ron, who was glaring daggers at Mike, who he considered to be some sort of player, began to walk slowly to the exit.

"Oh wait!" Pam's voice called after them and she jogged over. "You forgot your list." She finished when she was closer. She glanced at it once again and handed it over. "What's a muggle?"

"What?" Both boys yelped.

"At the bottom of your page it says be nice to muggles."

"Oh." Blaise said as Ron turned with his arms open and shouted, "cut!"

"We were making a move, you know. And you've ruined it. The camera people will not be happy." The red-head said after he'd turned back, "now we have to pack up and go. Go home people!" He shouted the last bit. "You have destroyed a masterpiece. Let's go, Blaise." As he passed Pam he snatched the paper from her hands. Blaise exchanged her raised eyebrows with a roll of his eyes and followed him out.

They froze, Draco and Harry and Hermione and Pansy had just emerged from stores all around, checking their watches. It was 12:54. As though there had been some kind of signal they all set off sprinting up the hill.

-

-

In a short trip into the clothing store they picked out a cheap tank top, sunglasses and Pansy took the number of the guy working the cash register and left. Their next stop was the electronics store across the road and a door down.

A girl received them, blushing. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Oh, I'm looking for the Friends season two and a CD for Coldplay." Hermione said, smiling. The girl gave her an odd look and then hurried away, returning with the desired items. They paid and thanked her, then left at a brisk walk.

Their next stop was the Tuck Shop next door, where Hermione scoured for a painting of the landscape. They found one the size of a CD case and went forward to pay. There were two people there, a girl and a guy.

"Hi, is this all?" The guy asked. He had blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"Yep." Hermione replied, digging out her money. As she handed over the cash she took a good look at him. "Hey, I hope this isn't too forward but can I have your number?"

He looked mildly surprised, but then a smile grazed his lips. "Yeah, sure." As he scribbled his phone number down she made a note to actually call him, instead of throwing her phone number out at the first chance she got.

_Jack-738-0118_

As they turned to go Hermione glanced down and froze. "Your name is Jack?"

"Yeah," he said as she wheeled around.

"Can I have a picture of you?"

"Oh, uh…"

"I mean us together. Here Pansy, take my camera." She handed the other girl her camera and stood close to Jack, smiling. A few minutes later they emerged from the store and set off up the road. As they got to the end of the stretch Hermione glanced at her watch. "We have to go now, it's 12:54."

Just then Blaise and Ron came out of the grocery store and Harry and Draco came out of the cemetery. Harry looked very tense. One thought crossed her mind. _Run._

-

-

"Okay they've moved, let's go!" Draco said and they hurried over to the book store, hoping that there was some kind of landscape painting. "A tree."

Harry turned to where Draco was pointing and saw a small tree by the clothing store. "It's a maple!" They ran over and pulled a leaf off it as a gust of wind pulled it from Harry's fingers. Almost instantly it died and the leaf floated to the ground, where he bent to pick it up and saw heart shaped rocks. "Oh good, we killed two birds with one stone."

"Why would you kill a bird?" Draco asked as Harry tucked away their findings.

"Nevermind."

Their time in the book store was short, though they did find a medium sized painting of a landscape that was supposed to make the environment for reading even more delightful. Then they went up to the grocery store and found the pen and the gum. Unfortunately a security guard forced them to put down the beer because they didn't have ID.

"I need to go into the cemetery." Harry said firmly as they stepped out of the store.

"We have more stuff to find and we only have about ten minutes."

"I need to go into the cemetery, Malfoy." He repeated.

"Fine, if we lose it's your fault." Draco snapped. He waited impatiently by the gate as Harry wandered through it and out of sight. At 12:54 he came sprinting back muttering, "I knew it!" under his breath.

"Come one we have to go!" He shouted and didn't stop, flying by Draco. The blonde snarled and followed, unaware that the other two groups had joined them.

They finally stopped, panting and gasping, in front of the house where Sheila and James were standing, looking clean, sweat and dust free, and perfectly hydrated. Clutching a stitch in her side, Hermione gasped out, "who won?"

"Well, well, well, I guess no one found everything?"

They all shook their heads.

"Okay then, display your things on the tables behind us." Sheila gestured behind her to the three tables lined up.

They set everything up, thankful the wind wasn't blowing, and waited for Sheila and James to look everything over.

"Do you two realize that-"

"Shh. No talking Harry, dear."

"It's important!"

"Hold on."

Hermione's cell phone rang and she picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Mike."

"Oh, hi Mike." She was surprised, she hadn't given him her number.

"Pam gave me your number, I wanted to call you. I found out the name of the dead family."

"Oh, yeah?" She said, waving away the curious glances.

"It was a family of three. Their last name was Riddle."

**A/N I know, cliffie. Who won and the Riddles. I was wondering if anyone caught the clues I put out, Little Hangleton, their neighboring town, the death of Frank, the woman named her daughter after Dot who is in the bar in the first chap, the stones, anyone? Read the first chap. of the fourth book.**

**Well well, I'm going away tomorrow and I might be able to type super fast the next chapter of The Initiation, but I doubt it. LOL.**

**Review review review! **


	8. Pact

A/N I'm sorry

_**First I'd like to give this chapter a late dedication to those who were lost or lost someone on September 11**__**th**__**. Our hearts are with you.**_

**A/N I'm sorry! My homework load is steadily increasing (it was pretty high to begin with) and I had no beginning to this at all. But anyway, I'm here, typing rather quickly if I do say so myself, and have a pretty good idea of the exact direction this is going so away we go! Woohoo! **

**Special, super amazing thanks to jennfire, who pointed out a massive mistake that makes me cringe right now and has now been fixed.**

**Disclaimer-I don't own Harry Potter.**

"The Riddles?" She repeated slowly, of course. How had she missed it? The teens all froze and looked at her but Sheila and James just watched at her expectantly.

"Yeah. Look I'd love to talk but I need to talk some sense into Pam-I mean I just need to talk to her. I'll see you later," Mike said and they hung up.

Harry rounded on Sheila, "see! You put us in the same village the _Riddles_ lived in? Are you bloody _insane_?"

She simply continued filing her nails. "So? We tore down the old house and built a new one. Just because it was an old family doesn't mean anything."

"The Riddles that died here were Voldemort's father and his new family! He murdered them! He was re-incarnated in the graveyard down there!" Harry was shouting now and Hermione was sure the cameras were zooming around him, getting in every angle they could.

"What?" The smile fell from James' face. "Well it doesn't matter, he won't come here."

"Even if he doesn't, I'm sure he would have out spells around this place to harm muggles and muggle-borns!" Harry bellowed, his fists clenched.

"I-I don't understand." Sheila stammered, her usually calm façade thrown completely.

"I was walking down the hall and fell over something, but Malfoy walked over the same spot and was unaffected." Hermione piped up and they all looked at her.

"You could have just tripped."

"No, my foot connected with something solid. For all I know, it could have been some kind of chain reaction that would end up killing me." She said firmly.

"Okay, everyone please stay calm." James said slowly, "first, we will finish up this contest-"

"This is a bit more important then a stupid game!" Ron said angrily.

"We will finish it!" James shouted, his face red and his voice hard. "Then, we will check you into a hotel and have our guards watch over you while we sort this out." Harry muttered something hotly under his breath but no one heard or paid attention.

"Okay, so where were we?" Sheila asked, her face pale. "right, so we'll just read a list of the items and if you have them, say yes."

She went down the list and finally came to a halt. "So Blaise and Ron are missing four items, Harry and Draco are missing two and Hermione and Pansy are missing one. Did no one find the rubber duck?"

"Oh yeah!" Ron said brightly, the bag from the adult movie store was stowed in the bottom of his bag where he had left it until the opportunity arose to throw it in a fire. He burrowed his hand into it, grasped what he thought was the duck and pulled it out, holding it high in his hand.

It may have been the tension that made Hermione and Harry snap. They burst into fits of

laughter as they saw what Ron was holding, and they didn't stop for a good minute and a half.

"Oh yeah, er… what is this, anyway?" Ron asked and Hermione clutched her side as she giggled softly.

"That's a-a-" Her voice broke and she choked.

Pansy reached over and grabbed it from his hand and flipped it over and examined the plastic on it. "It says it's a vibrator."

Harry had almost controlled himself and burst into more bouts of laughter. Pansy's eyes moved across the words and with a yelp she threw it at Blaise, where it hit him in the face. More laughter followed this as Pansy stared, horrified. It wasn't until Blaise read aloud out the instructions that were so thoughtfully written on the side that everyone understood what was so funny.

When at last there was calm Ron pulled out the duck and handed it over mutely.

"Where did you find this?"

"The adult movie store." There as no more laughter, only snorts.

"I see. So we've established that Hermione and Pansy are the winners, I think." Sheila said and looked at James who nodded. "So you two will be flying to Paris tonight to enjoy a nice dinner and tomorrow you'll spend an hour at your choice of place to visit. You'll be together, of course."

They just nodded. "So if you would all please get into the limo, we will have people retrieve some clothes from your rooms and then we'll drive you to your new lodgings."

"Which are where?"

"When we find out, you'll know." James said, "now please get in the car."

They climbed into the limo and sat as they saw James talking quickly into a cell phone.

"So…" Hermione said slowly.

"Where are we going for your hour?" Pansy asked her.

"I have a friend, Andrea, and I figure we'll go there." She answered, "what about you?"

Pansy looked thoughtful. "I have this friend I haven't seen yet this summer, I'd like to visit him."

"Cool." They were plunged into silence.

"So when did you figure it out?" Ron turned to Harry.

The jade-eyed boy sighed, "well I remembered certain things from the-the memories, and I had a suspicion something was up in the village, and then I saw something in the grocery store that said, 'Little Hangleton' on it and so when I went to the cemetery it was confirmed. There were other things, but mostly those."

"I had a friend tell me about a family living on the lot in a house that was torn down and then how a man died there a few years ago… He phoned me and told me the name because I said I was interested. I should have realized before but I didn't." Hermione said, feeling ashamed. There were clues everywhere! The minute Mike had told her about the family should have been a point of realization. Then how Malfoy had known…

A pregnant pause followed this.

"Was your friend that Mike guy?" Ron asked.

"Yes, actually. Why?"

"A girl at the food store said she fancied him. Her name was Pan or something."

"Pam," Blaise corrected.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Sorry for mistaking your girlfriend's name."

"She's not my girlfriend." Blaise said in an annoyed voice.

"Why did she kiss you then?" Ron countered, a smirk creeping onto his face.

"I don't attempt to understand the female mind." Blaise said.

"She kissed you?" Hermione said thoughtfully. "Hmm. So she was trying to catch Mike's attention, or make him jealous. But why, then? Was he talking to a girl?"

"No, but Weasley mentioned how her lover boy was flirting with you." Blaise said with an amused look at him.

"He was!" Ron exclaimed.

"She should've kissed you, then, for alerting her of this. Oh wait, she was too busy thinking about what a lunatic you are." Blaise flashed a smirk and turned to Draco and Pansy, "she saw 'muggles' on the bottom of our sheet and asked us what it was about and he turned around and yelled, 'cut!' He looked crazy, and started saying we were making a movie and she'd 'destroyed the masterpiece'." His grin faltered as he saw the incredulous looks on their faces and realized his tone was not at all bitter.

He cleared his throat, adjusting his tone, "Anyway, he was being a stupid Gryffindor."

"Right," Ron said and shot a furtive look at his two friends. Harry was pointedly looking away but Hermione smiled at Ron. The two boys fell silent and Hermione saw a small frown on Blaise's face.

"Okay," Sheila stuck her head in through the window. "Your clothes are in the back and you're going to be driven to a hotel, where someone is waiting for you and will check you in. Just go up to your room, you can use the pool or the entertainment room or something. We'll let you know how everything worked out soon, okay?" They nodded and she pulled her head out.

"See you soon!"

They expected a short drive but instead came to a stop two hours later. After they'd all clambered out, taken in the beaten up looking motel and groaned, met the guard waiting for them and finally set up in their single room(that contained six beds) it was 4:00.

"Anyone want to go swimming?" Ron asked as Hermione dropped her duffel bag on one of the beds.

"Yes." The others said simultaneously (excluding Hermione) and glared at each other as though their situation was the others' fault.

They took turns changing in the single adjoining bathroom and Hermione, Ron and Harry left first, heading to the pool. She brought a towel and wore her bathing suit, seeing no reason to not spend quality time down there with her friends if she was in the hot tub. She was alright in hot tubs, Jacuzzis and bathtubs, but anything larger and she was terrified out of her wits. Unfortunately, the pool contained water so unclear it looked toxic and on closer inspection, proved to have a thin layer of some kind of clear substance floating on top of the water. They decided to join her in the hot water instead, which was in great condition.

With the jets turned on full so that the surface of the water was a mass of bubbles they finally relaxed and Hermione leaned against the side with a sigh. As she drifted away she closed her eyes, finally at peace.

-

-

"Hermione wake up." Someone was shaking her and she slipped underwater, emerging with a gasp. "Sorry. I just thought we'd tell you we're going up now."

"Yeah, okay." She said and pushed her hair from her face, "I'll be up soon."

Harry and Ron left her and she looked around for a clock, wondering what time it was. As she did this Blaise slipped in across from her, giving her a wary look. "Do you mind?"

"No." She said and smiled awkwardly. They sat in silence for a bit and then, "so I guess you two had fun."

"What?" He asked, turning to look at her quickly.

"You and Ron."

"Oh, right. I guess."

"Just because Malfoy doesn't think it's okay doesn't mean it isn't." She said conversationally, skimming her hands over the bubbling water.

"What does he have to do with this?"

"Don't try telling me that if Malfoy didn't exist you wouldn't admit you and Ron got along better then you expected. Maybe you even enjoyed each other's presence."

"Sure Granger, when hell freezes over." He snapped back, an annoyed look flashing across his face.

"Well it looked like you were getting along fine in the car." She muttered, watching him from under her eyelashes.

"Well we didn't!" He exploded, glaring furiously at her. "Are you leaving or should I?"

"I was going anyway." She said and heaved herself out. When she was exiting the door with a towel wrapped firmly around her she looked back and saw Blaise frowning again. Back up at their room she found Pansy sitting on her bed, looking at her watch.

"Oh, there you are Granger. James just called to say we're going to be going to Paris in fifteen minutes. He said dress formally." She looked around nervously and moved a bit closer to Hermione. "Can I…er…borrow something to wear?"

Hermione was pleasantly surprised and answered yes, so they spent the next five minutes looking through her clothes and having Pansy try on the outfit they picked out together. It consisted of a royal blue V neck halter and a flowing black skirt that ended just above her knees, paired with strappy black heels. Pansy, of course, felt obliged to pick Hermione out a set of clothes and forced her into a classy black dress that had off the shoulder straps and a soft silk ribbon wrapped around the middle, connected by a silver heart on her hip. After falling in love with silver stilettos (which Hermione was going to refuse to wear until Pansy starting asking all sorts of excited question about the muggle designer, and where she could buy some nicer muggle clothes) and making Hermione put them on, they set off downstairs with overthrows in case it got chilly. They passed the Gryffindor boys in the hall, who smiled widely at Hermione.

"It's creepy seeing them look happy." Pansy said as they kept walking (a rather difficult feat on Hermione's part).

Hermione glanced at her as she threw a hand out to the wall, "I imagine it would be like that for me if I saw Blaise and Malfoy smile."

"Why don't you call Blaise by his surname? Don't you find that at all weird? We were talking about it and he said he doesn't really understand."

"Not really. It's sort of hard to explain. It's always just been Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. I suppose he was there, but I never really paid what he did much attention." She found that never taking her hand off the wall helped quite a bit.

"But he's a Slytherin." Pansy said, looking confused.

"Oh I see." She said, nodding. "Yeah, I know that most Slytherins are completely evil and hate me, but I'm more inclined to let them do something to make me hate them as opposed to hating them for what they are, like they do."

"Oh." They turned the next corner and found Sheila and James waiting for them in the lobby, beaming like they were letting the sun channel through them.

"Hey hey hey it's just an ordinary day," James sang, took sight of them and went, "but not so ordinary now."

Deciding to ignore this, the two girls waited as the adults looked them over with approval. "Excellent." Sheila said, "You really must thank your mother, Hermione."

"I will." She wasn't so sure she would be thanking her mother for the shoes she was in, however.

They were led down a narrow alleyway, where Sheila and James handed over a small sphere with a button on it.

"This is called a telekey. It's a version of a portkey, but will take you to two locations. The first time you press this will take you to a small alleyway outside Les Belles Filles, where you have a reservation for two in a private area. They will escort you to your table and proceed from then. It is…5:00 now, you have until 10:30 before we will come and transport you home if you don't come yourself. Got it?"

"Yes." Pansy nodded.

"Have a nice night." Sheila smiled and backed up. James was humming 'Ordinary Day' under his breath. As they joined hands and Pansy pressed the button, they heard Sheila say, "will you be quiet, honey, you've been singing that all day."

"It's not a song you can stop playing in your head very-"

They were gone, re-emerging in another alleyway. They walked around the side and through glass doors under a sign reading, 'Les Belles Filles' in curvy handwriting. A tuxedo dressed man was waiting just inside and he bowed, asking in rapid French if they wanted a table and then repeating in English.

Hermione did the talking and they were soon seated in a comfortable chair around a circular table in the corner surrounded by a screen. Pansy read aloud things on the menu, asking what they were and Hermione answered all her question patiently, glad that the girl was taking such an interest in muggle culture.

They placed their order with a well dressed woman and settled back.

"Champagne?"

Pansy looked at Hermione, who shrugged and nodded. "Thank-you."

"Red or white?"

"Red, thank-you."

"I'll have the same."

He left them sipping from wine glasses, forced to make small talk. It was much more different now that they were actually sitting down and were expected to talk, as opposed to if they were walking they could stay in silence and it was acceptable.

"Blaise and Ron are really getting along," Hermione said finally, clinging to a desperate thread of conversation.

"Yeah I guess. Blaise said he thought Weasley was really screwed up. Then he said he thought the whole movie thing was really a good idea but if I mentioned it to Draco he would curse me." She smiled despite her bitter tone.

"I thought you two didn't get along." Hermione commented.

"What? We don't, what makes you think we do?" Pansy snapped, gulping down some wine, choking, and then wiping her streaming eyes with a napkin. Their salads came at this moment and their waiter poured Pansy some more champagne, which Hermione noticed she left untouched.

Too soon the salads were done and they were left in an awkward silence. Hermione decided it was Pansy's turn to think up something to say, so she remained silent.

"Apparently we're leaving tomorrow at 10:00 for your person's house." Pansy said slowly, turning her glass around in circles in her hand.

"Oh, okay." She replied, "where does your friend live?"

"Not far from where I live, which is about six hours from here." After seeing Hermione's face, she nodded, "yeah, I'm a lot farther away then you are."

"Wow. Does she-he…" The sentence was left hanging.

"He. No he doesn't go to Hogwarts," Pansy replied, getting the gist of what was being asked, "he's home schooled."

"Ah." She nodded. Small talk came more easily after that and much quicker then she'd thought possible she was finishing up the last of her raspberry white-chocolate cheesecake and they were getting up to leave. (Sheila and James had pre-paid for it).

They re-appeared in the alleyway they'd left in, and made their way back to the rooms. Walking was now much easier because she had gotten the hang of her shoes. Or she thought. After she'd tripped she ripped them off her feet and carried them in her fingers.

Harry, Ron and Draco were sleeping but Blaise wasn't even in the room. It was 10:23 exactly. With a swift goodnight Hermione slipped out of her dress (in the bathroom) and climbed into the creaky bed.

Later she awoke in pitch black, a glowing clock read 12:58 and a figure was moving around the room. Blaise picked up a sweater and was just opening the door again when she sat up and the bed gave a large creak.

"What are you still doing up?" She asked groggily, "are you sulking?"

"No," he said sharply, then softer, "go back to bed Granger. Sweet dreams."

As she leaned back down and drifted away she wondered whether she was dreaming, and before she could decide she wasn't she was asleep again.

-

-

The next morning Pansy shook her awake, "come on Granger. We have to go soon and you need to eat." It was 9:30 and with a groan that matched her bed, she hauled herself off it and dressed sluggishly in the bathroom. On the way to breakfast she saw a very tired looking Blaise walking up to the rooms.

"You look tired." She said.

"I am." He answered and kept walking, ending the conversation before it could begin.

"He's been sulking all of yesterday. Draco wouldn't talk to him and said he was a traitor. Blaise gets like that sometimes and he doesn't sleep, eat or really do anything but sit in silence and think. It's weird." Pansy muttered, turning her into a door she had almost passed.

"Just because of Malfoy?" She asked incredulously.

"No, he just tends to get really wrapped up in his thoughts."

The kitchen was much more satisfactory then the rest of the building and she had a sufficient breakfast of eggs on toast before making her way back upstairs. Pansy was insisting they sort through more of Hermione's clothes.

Once again, time seemed to be moving quickly and she was standing outside Andrea's house with Pansy at her side. She rang the doorbell and a minute later a tussled, pajama clad Jacob stood in the door, squinting at them.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah, hi Jacob." It was almost a shock to see him there. "Is Andrea here?"

"Andrea? Nope." He rubbed his eyes and yawned, "she was over at Hannah's, I expect she'll be back soon, though. Come on in."

She entered the house, followed by Pansy, and settled herself on a tall stool by the counter. Jacob had a frying pan on the stove and a carton of eggs beside it.

"I was making breakfast. Have you eaten?"

"Yes." There was a silence in which Hermione remembered Pansy and hurried to introduce her. "Jacob this is my friend Pansy, Pansy this is Jacob, my friend's brother."

Jacob let out a lopsided smile. "My title is Andrea's brother? Can't I be your friend, too?" He put on a fake pout and Hermione laughed.

"My friend Jacob."

"Oh." Pansy said and glanced at Hermione quickly.

"So how have you been?" Jacob asked, cracking an egg into a bowl.

"Good, I've been good." She answered, "the house I'm living in has some…problems so me and my housemates have to move."

"Not farther form here, I hope?" Jacob said, "you won't believe how much Andrea can whine about when she feels like it."

"Oh I believe it." She said dryly. Jacob laughed.

"Right. Sometimes I forget you're her friend, too." She could feel her stomach bubble but couldn't figure out why that made her feel so happy.

"So who do you live with? Those two guy friends of yours that 'don't like you'?"

"Yes, them." She said, cocking her head slightly and smiling, "with Pansy and her two friends, Malfoy and Blaise."

"Malfoy? The guy you slapped?" Jacob let out a bark of laughter. "Wow, I've never really understood you."

"What can I say, I'm just that mysterious." She smirked, catching Pansy's raised eyebrows out of the corner of her eyes.

"Maybe I'll be the one who solves you." Jacob winked.

"You give yourself too much credit." Her voice was slightly strange, it wasn't a tone she was used to hearing. Was she flirting? _Phff. No. _

"My modesty is one of the quality that makes you love me, though." He laughed and Hermione felt her cheeks heating up. Why was she blushing?

"I don't think so." She retorted, laughing shortly. Another silence followed. _What did I say? Ugh, are all these silences my fault? _

"So…You two don't mind if I turn on the CD player? Loud is the only way to listen to it."

"No." Hermione looked at Pansy, who shook her head mutely.

"Okay." He turned it on and blasted it loudly as he fished a knife from a drawer. "Chop these up, will you?" He gestured at the mushrooms on the cutting board.

That was how she found herself singing loudly and dancing like a lunatic with not Andrea, but Jacob. Funnily enough, there was a lot more contact, even if it was playful,

when they danced as opposed to when she'd danced with Andrea they'd just done their own thing without stretching the limit of the iPod cord. Pansy was sitting there, watching them through narrowed eyes.

"Jacob will you turn it _down_!" Andrea's voice shouted as she opened the door and threw her bag onto the floor and turned down the stereo. "God why are you such a lu- Hermione!"

"Hey, Andrea." She greeted, trying not to laugh and failing.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, "Not that I don't want to see you."

"I'm here to see you, actually. I'm surprised though, why are you back so early?" She replied, setting the knife down beside the chopped mushrooms.

"Hannah has swim practice." She looked Hermione up and down, "god I love your mom. It's so good to see you!" She hugged her tightly.

"Good to see you too."

"I don't really remember seeing you at the party after awhile," Andrea frowned and screwed up her pretty face.

"I'm not surprised." She said dryly and Jacob snorted as he sprinkled mushrooms over his food.

"Oh wait! Yeah, yeah I remember. You danced really closely with Jacob, right? I don't see how you can stand being in his presence that long." She shook her strawberry hair out of her face.

"I can manage." Jacob grinned.

"So how long have you been waiting for me?"

"Erm…"she glanced at the clock, "about fifteen minutes."

"Sorry, if I'd known you were coming I would have hurried." Andrea said apologetically.

"That's fine." She replied easily, "oh! I almost forgot, this is my friend Pansy."

Pansy, who had been silent the entire time, smiled. "Hi."

"Hey," Andrea leaned forward and hugged her. For a moment Hermione feared Pansy would push her away, but she didn't. "Do you two want to go somewhere else, where, let's say, Jacob isn't?"

"Sure," she said and Pansy nodded.

Jacob let out a strangled sigh, "I was _so_ looking forward to getting my nails done."

Andrea threw her discarded pillow at his head as they left the room and traveled upstairs. "Honestly, what is with him? Half the time is he normal and the other half he's chalk full of crazy. I think it's you, Hermione, you bring out the worst in him."

Hermione snorted in reply, "thanks."

"So how do you two know each other?" She looked back at them as they ascended the staircase.

"School." Hermione said shortly, this could go into dangerous territory.

"Really! It's so great to find someone who goes with Hermione, you guys are pretty isolated, huh?"

"Oh yeah, totally. It's hard being away from friends outside school." Pansy answered, keeping her tone natural.

"I hate not being allowed to see Hermione all year round, you guys are so lucky you see each other so much. I bet your school is really nice. Mine is okay, but it's full of stupid prejudices and things like that, you know you look at someone and automatically you don't like them? I'm taking a sociology class and we have to do a project where we go to a certain public place and smile at people, take in their reactions, and then people who see, their reactions. Then we have to take notice of who people stare at, who people ignore, things like that, then answer a whole bunch of questions." They were in her room now and Andrea collapsed gracefully onto her bed, Hermione said in a chair and Pansy sat down awkwardly on a couch.

"I mean it's a lot of work, but I absolutely love it! Is that weird? That I like doing work so much?" She looked at them both and they shook their heads.

"I guess you and- Hermione have a lot in common." Pansy said, "She does extra everything at our school."

"Yeah, Hermione was always brilliant like that." She smiled fondly at the brunette.

"I'm not brilliant." She said, rolling her eyes.

"She is," Andrea mouthed to Pansy, who nodded in agreement. "So how long are you guys here for?"

"We have to leave at eleven." Hermione replied, glancing at the clock, they had twenty minutes.

"Why so early?" Andrea complained.

"We're pretty busy right now." Hermione smiled, "so did you meet anyone you liked at the party?"

"No," Andrea sighed and groaned, flopping back, "you'd think it would be easy, wouldn't it? But all the guys are cocky, over-confident jerks that pick up five girls a day. What would I give to have an embarrassed, awkward guy actually have feelings for me? I think every time I've thought of a boyfriend it wasn't one who was calling me babe, or stupid nicknames, more like someone who held my hand instead, or got possessive of me if he heard other guys talk about me, as opposed to telling all his friends how he's got me. You know?"

"Yeah," Hermione nodded, "A lot of the guys at my school are like that."

"If only I cold transfer," she laughed, "what about you? Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Not really." She said uneasily. "Pansy?"

"Nope." Pansy said with a jerk of her head.

"Well, we should go out sometime, all three of us, and scope out guys or something." Andrea said, looking at the two of them, "what do you say?"

"Yeah, sure." Hermione said, looking at Pansy.

There was a slight pause, "yeah, definitely."

Andrea beamed at them. "Good. So Pansy, what do you look for in a guy?"

"Oh," Pansy looked startled, "well… he has to respect me, and he has to be comfortable with everyone knowing we're together, I wouldn't want some stupid secret relationship. We'd need to be able to spend some time apart, but it would make the time we were together even better. I would love it if he just held my hand and we walked, you know? Just comfortable with being with each other. I wouldn't want to get super physical, as well, because I would feel like there wasn't really a relationship. And he can't run away from the word commitment."

"Yeah, a lot of guys do that." Andrea said, rolling her eyes. "What about you, Hermione?"

"Erm…" In truth, she had thought a lot about this. "Well I mean, respect would be important. He should be understanding, but should feel like he can tell me anything, I mean part of a relationship is me, too, right? We should be able to make up if we ever got in a fight, not just end up making out with each other to resolve conflict. I love sweet little gestures. Like holding hands, flowers, a secret smile every now and then, like we share something special. And even if he just whispered, 'you're mine', or 'I love you', in my ear I would be the happiest female alive. There has to be a connection, you know, tingles when our skin touches, butterflies in the stomach, all that."

Silence followed this. "That was beautiful."

"Do you think our standards are too high?" Pansy asked, "I mean what are the chances we'll find someone like that?"

Andrea sat up quickly, "we should make a pact. If we find someone, we have to all get together and if one of thinks he's trouble, we should say so. You know, we'll watch out for each other. How about it?"

"Yeah," Pansy said, "I like it, Hermione?"

She looked from Andrea's bright face to Pansy's and nodded. "Yeah." She was thrilled that Pansy had taken such a liking to Andrea, she was becoming more immersed in muggle life quickly.

"Oh, crap! Is it eleven now?" Andrea exclaimed, looking at her clock. "Do you really have to go?"

"Oh…" she experienced a sinking feeling in her stomach, "yeah."

They said their goodbyes and left slowly. When they were hidden safely in the bushes, they joined hands and got ready to press the telekey button. "I like her, that Andrea. I've never had a muggle friend before." Pansy said as she pushed the button.

And then they were gone.

**A/N I know I know I know! There was, like, no Draco! I'm sorry! I had to get this over with, but trust me, it is coming! Besides, the Andrea/Pansy/Hermione relationship is important. **

**That Ordinary Day song has been stuck in my head for the past week, I had to put it in there. XD **

**I think that Hermione was a bit more OOC then usual, I'm sorry. But I imagine she would be different around muggle people. Oh, and I know I kind of skipped over the Paris evening pretty quickly, but everything was just small talk about nothing.**

**I need your opinion! I know this wasn't the best chapter, there wasn't much going on, but like I said, it is coming. This was, still, an important chapter and I now have a whole bunch of ideas just from this.**

**So…please…**

**Review review review!**


	9. Date

**Author's Note: Here we are. I am still sorry for Draco's absence last chapter, but don't worry. This is a DRAMIONE story. Forever. As long as it lasts. Trust me.**

**Again: HAPPY THANKSGIVING PEOPLE! Woohoo, three day weekend!**

**Disclaimer-I don't own it.**

"Granger, wake up!" Someone was shaking her. Someone with a very annoyed voice.

"What?" She rolled over and looked up into the face of Draco Malfoy.

"Your stupid thing was making strange noises." He pointed to her bag and raised an eyebrow at her.

Hermione sat up and rubbed her eyes, "thanks for clearing that up, it could've been really hard to understand what you were talking about."

He rolled his eyes and picked up her bag, throwing it at her. "I don't attempt to understand the stupid things muggles come up with. It made funny noises."

"Okay," She unzipped the zipper and dug through, at last coming across her cell phone. She flipped the screen. _One new message from: _** Jacob. **Her heart skipped a beat as she put the phone up to her ear.

'"_Hey Hermione, uh, it's Jacob. I just wondered if you were doing anything, later. If you're not maybe you'd like to do something with me? Well call me after you get this message, bye."_

She allowed herself a minute of sitting there, smiling with the silent phone at her ear. Jacob asked her out. Her first real date.

"I'm sickened." Draco said and left the room, leaving her alone.

What time was it, anyway? 11:06. Well that wasn't good, why did she sleep in so late? Memories of the previous day flooded to mind.

_-Flashback_

"_Riley!" Pansy smiled delightedly and hugged the male that had opened the door. "It's so good to see you." _

_He had hazel eyes and was several inches taller then Pansy, with short brown hair. "It's nice to see you, too. It's been forever." He smiled, lighting his pleasant face. Then he turned to Hermione, "who's this?"_

_Pansy turned, one arm wrapped around Riley's waist. "That's Hermione, she's a-a friend from school."_

"_Nice to meet you." He held out his hand and she took it. "I suppose you're in Slytherin, too?"_

_Hermione's smile faltered, "no actually. I'm Gryffindor."_

_Riley swiveled to Pansy with a grin forming. Without saying anything, it seemed he had communicated through eye-contact, he looked back to Hermione, "Hermione Granger?"_

"_Yes," she said, taken aback. How did he know her name?_

"_Ah," he nodded but didn't elaborate. "It's good to know some people take my advice."_

_Pansy nudged him with her elbow, but she was smiling. "So do you watch it?"_

"_The show? Sometimes. But I think it's stupid, they could have founds tons of people that wanted to do it but they chose the ones that didn't instead. I suppose it's part of the appeal. And there's a whole bunch articles in the paper saying things like, 'the Malfoy/Granger romance is really coming along' and people actually believe it." He laughed, "from what I've heard, it's completely ludicrous that you two would ever end up together. I watch it because you're on it." _

"_I overheard Sheila and James talking about our next challenge, apparently we're going to be doing one that lasts about two weeks. They said they were going to add in a 'confession box' where you go and can say your thoughts and everything. I think it would be kind of cool." Pansy said, and Riley steered them through the doorway._

"_Yeah, do you know what you're doing?" _

"_Nope." _

"_Probably something horrendous." Hermione muttered and both people turned their heads to glance at her. _

"_It might be fun." Riley said, "didn't you enjoy the other one you did?"_

_Hermione pursed her lips, "yes, but that doesn't change the fact that we're still stuck against our will in a house full of cameras."_

"_I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be happy," Riley let out a bark of laughter._

"_But think about it!" She persisted, "we can't do anything without the public knowing!"_

_Pansy spoke up, "I've been thinking. Seriously Granger, it could've been a lot worse. We're in a huge house with everything we could desire throughout the whole summer, our friends are there, all of us but Potter can do magic at will now, and they gave us a bunch of free stuff." Riley pulled Pansy closer in a one armed hug, smiling. "The only downside is that you're not there." _

_They were at a set of stairs and Riley took Pansy's hand, leading both girls up the stairs. It was the first time in that hour Hermione wondered if the two were romantically linked._

_-Finis_

She dialed quickly, ending the call three times when she pressed the wrong button in her haste. It rang twice before Andrea picked up. "Hey."

She froze, did Andrea know? Should she ask for Jacob? "Hi, Andrea…"

"Oh, hi Hermione!" She brightened considerably, "what's up?"

She stumbled around her mind for an answer but Andrea continued without waiting, "I guess you want to talk to Jacob? This is so weird. Jacob, Hermione's on the phone!"

"Hello?"

"Jacob, hi." Hermione said, her heart sped up. Why hadn't she thought about what to say? Should she just say yes or make small talk or should she try to get him to bring it up? "I got your message."

"Oh, yeah. So do you want to do something?" His voice was calm and soft, the exact tone she loved.

"Sure," her voice was more breathless then she'd hoped, "do you have anything in mind?"

"I thought we could go for a walk, I know a great trail."

"Sounds great." She could already picture them, walking hand in hand in the middle of a quiet forest.

"Do you want to me to pick you up?"

"Do you know where I live right now?" She laughed softly, wary of making a loud noise in the receiver.

"Actually yes, Andrea gave me the address, saying you e-mailed it to her." He chuckled, creating static on his end.

"Okay." She was grinning like a fool but couldn't stop.

"I'll pick you up at 3:45, alright?"

"Yes, definitely." She said, "I'll see you then."

"Bye," the line went dead.

Hermione let out a long sigh and collapsed on her bed. _Jacob._

-

-

As she raised a can of soda to her lips, Sheila began to file her nails and James spoke. "As you know, we have to re-locate the show and the house. This is going to take awhile, with the addition of modifications to the people living in the village."

A note had been sent up to their room requesting their attendance in the garden at 2:00 though as Draco pointed out, it wasn't so much a request as a command. They were gathered around the couple outside, ready to hear the next move of the show. None of them suspected the two would forget the whole thing.

"What? Are you erasing their memory of us?" Harry asked sharply as Ron said, "that's illegal!"

Sheila looked up and flashed her teeth, "we can't just pack up a mansion and expect them not to notice. You've only been here a few days, they'll hardly know the difference. Ministry workers are doing it, so the there won't be any harm done to them." With a pang Hermione realized that Pam and Mike wouldn't remember her anymore.

"Anyway, we've opted to make you guys leave the village in the form of a challenge. So, we're sending you on a road trip." He beamed around at them all and Hermione felt her insides lifting, a road trip? That was good, maybe she could be in a different car then the Slytherins.

"A…road trip?" Draco asked, his tone brightening slightly at the end. "To where?"

"That's sort of a secret. We're giving you navigators in your car and a spare set of directions in case anything happens to it. You just follow it. There are two cars and each car is given a different route that takes exactly the same amount of time to travel. You have eight days to get to your destination, where we will be waiting-"

"-to tell you who's in first place. Then you have a day to restore your energy, and you're off back the same way you came. The winner is likely to be the people who get there first. The amount of magic used is going to be taken into account."

"What are the groups?" Ron asked eagerly, "when are we leaving?"

"You will have a blind fold put over you and you won't know who's in your group until you're in the car. So pack for fun. We've had the guys bring your possessions into your room, they're on your bed. You leave tomorrow at 3:00, after that you get there on your own time." James said, beaming. "Anything else?"

"What are the chances we're going to be with someone we don't like?" Draco asked loudly, shooting Hermione a glare.

"Think about it, Malfoy. Wouldn't they want us to be with people who are annoyed by other peoples' things making funny noises?" She rolled her eyes as Harry and Ron snickered.

Draco swung back around to face Sheila, "I mean are you landing me with Granger?"

She winked, "we just can't keep the favourite couple of the house away from each other, can we?"

There was a strangled sigh mingled with a groan from both Hermione and Draco. "Seriously? Why?"

"Think of it this way, hun. We're selling minutes, and people are going to want to watch minutes of you two arguing or whatever else you might want to engage in." James said, raising his eyebrows suggestively at the two.

"Ugh, you're disgusting. I would never do _that_ with a mudblood." Draco said with an expression one would associate with smelling something foul.

Ron and Harry both pulled out their wands but Hermione simply said, "what are you thinking about, Malfoy? I thought he was suggesting we actually talk to each other as opposed to arguing, what are you thinking?"

Draco's cheeks tinged pink and he spat, "no one asked for your opinion you filthy mudblood."

"Take it back!" Ron snarled, his wand pointed at Draco's heart.

"You really don't want to do that, Weasel." Draco smirked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Honestly Ron, it's not worth it." Hermione pushed on the red-head's arm, forcing it down. She repeated this movement with Harry, eyeing Blaise and Pansy. Both had their hands clenched tightly in their robes where she suspected their wands were.

"Is that all," James asked, grinning madly at them. "There's just so much tension in here, it's so exciting. You look like you could blow someone's head off, you do."

"Oh! I almost forgot, I'm going out today, is this going to be a problem?" Hermione asked more out of trying to distract Harry and Ron then an actual question.

"Ah yes, your date with Jacob." Sheila said and Hermione's face changed color.

"Date?" Pansy raised her eyebrows at Hermione in a way that meant 'what about the pact?'

"Later." She said stiffly, partly because Ron was glowering at a rock beside her foot and partly because she didn't want the show's producers enlightened about that little detail.

"Well that's that!" James clapped his hands together, "so we'll see you tomorrow, packed and ready at separate times. Pansy, 2:30, Harry, 2:35, Ron 2:40, Draco 2:45, Hermione 2:50 and Blaise 2:55 please. You will not be seeing the other group for the next two weeks, so say your goodbye's before you go."

"Can we go?" Blaise asked after a moment of silence from his casual lean against a tree.

"You may."

They slowly filtered from the garden. Hermione threw her finished soda into a recycle bin, watching Harry and Ron from the corner of her eye.

"So, I suppose you're going to get ready for your date?" Ron asked, glancing at her.

"It's only quarter after two, I'm not being picked up for another hour and a half." She said, "I don't need that long."

Ron shrugged, "I thought girls always took long before dates. It's what they do."

"Not me," she shrugged, "anyway, what do you think the chances are I'll be with either of you?"

"Probably close to nothing. If they're putting you with Malfoy, they obviously want some action with you two." Harry reasoned and Ron nodded.

"It's weird, though, I would have thought they'd put Malfoy with Harry, just because they're supposed to be such huge enemies. They're really intent upon you two."

"Yeah." Hermione sighed, "whatever the case, I don't like it."

The other two agreed and they walked the rest of the way in companionable silence. Back at their room, a large amount of their possessions were strewn across their beds. She packed quickly with the objective of having nothing to do. With that done, she glanced around to see if anyone would notice and then tried to pick out an outfit for her walk with Jacob. Too soon, but seeming not soon enough, she was actually leaving the bathroom in her chosen clothes and saying good-bye to her friends.

Jacob was waiting by his car, drumming his fingers on the side. As he spotted her coming closer he began to smile. She couldn't help it, her face broke out into a grin so big she feared it would stretch her lips. She probably looked like an idiot.

He opened the passenger's side and she sat inside, her stomach jumping. He closed it behind her and strode around to the side with the steering wheel and he climbed in.

"Hey," he started up the ignition and skillfully pulled them out of parking lot.

"Hi."

"You look pretty," he said with a smile, glancing at her at then focusing on the road.

"Thanks," she said softly, even this small compliment made her blush. "So…is Andrea, you know… okay with this?"

"You and I? Yeah, actually she was the one that told me to get a move on and ask you out because you weren't going to be free for much longer." The idea obviously didn't hold very much appeal to him.

"Good," she sighed, relieved. An angry Andrea was not one anyone liked dealing with. She got it from her mother.

"If I said she wasn't, would you not go out with me?" Jacob turned back to her, his eyes probing.

"No…I would but it makes things easier this way." She said and Jacob laughed.

"So when do you go back to school?"

"September first." She said instantly, "you?"

"Mid September is when my classes start up. I suppose I'll leave a few days after you, once Andrea's back in school life won't be very entertaining."

This made Hermione's spirits soar, if possible, higher. That meant he thought they'd be dating throughout the summer. "Oh, so what's college life like?"

He turned left sharply and she slid a few centimeters in her seat. "It's great. The classes are spaced well, I'm working in a grocery store on the side-"

"You?" She snorted, "I never thought you'd work in a grocery store."

Jacob shrugged, "all money helps. Plus I get discounts on the food, which leads me to my next point. The worst part is when I have to cook. Once I accidentally set Brett on fire."

"Brett?" The image of a curvy brunette had just popped up and was dancing around her head.

"My roommate. He's majoring in the culinary art so after that incident we decided I'd get the food and he would cook. Except when he's out with girls, which happens often. Girls love a man that cook." The woman dancing in her head vanished in a puff of smoke.

"You made eggs at your house. They turned out well." She pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what I eat when he's gone." He grinned at her and turned onto a small, one way street in a stretch of forest. "We'll park down here."

There was a small circle of gravel off the side of the road where a beaten down trail could be seen. They climbed out of the car and Jacob led her around to the other side, where the trail was not. "It's a bit rocky, but when we get there its worth it."

A bit rocky was probably the understatement of the year. A bit mountainous would have been more accurate. As she climbed onto yet another massive fallen tree, she wondered if Jacob (who was waiting patiently on the other side to catch her) thought this date was going to the dogs, too.

_By the time we get there I'm going to be so sweaty he won't come near me. _She thought bitterly, wiping her face. However, at the next bend the ground seemed to even out into waves of soft moss, much easier to walk on. It was not so, unfortunately.

"You have be careful with this stuff, it's pretty slippery and starts sinking if you stand on it too long." Jacob said and looked back at her. "Do you want to go back?"

"Go back? No way, we're almost there." She said, then added as an afterthought, "right?"

"Nearly." He smiled apologetically, "the last I came up here, it was not this hard."

"Well," she smiled, "it's fun."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she replied, "you're here."

He turned away, grinning. "We'd better get going now." He stepped onto the slippery moss overgrowth and she trailed after him. He was right. It _was_ slippery. She crossed it quickly, thinking that she probably could've done it in those stilettos, it wasn't that hard.

"Omphf!" She her foot slide and she landed with a un-attractive sound on her butt in the moss, which promptly began to sink. Jacob laughed and grabbed her hand, helping her up. "Thanks," she said, wiping her now damp and slightly dirt covered pants.

He didn't let go of her hand as they walked down the path, turning right into a clearing. There was a big rock on one side and it was quiet, as though the rest of the world was shut out by the ring of trees surrounding it. "Wow," she murmured.

"You like it?" Jacob grinned, and he led her to the big rock. It made a nice spot to sit on, and she leaned against Jacob, sighing. This was heaven.

-

-

When Jacob pulled up in front of the motel that evening at 7:00 Hermione was blissfully happy. They had talked about nothing and everything, with minutes of comfortable silence in between. When she'd finally realized they couldn't stay holed up in there forever she scrambled to check her watch, was the four hour limit on still? Slightly reluctant, Jacob led her back to the car where he drove her home.

"Thanks," she smiled as he opened the door for her. It was just one of those things Jacob did that made her like him so much. "I had a really great time."

"So did I," he grinned at her as she stopped outside the door. He leaned in and her heart starting beating very quickly. He kissed her on the cheek and she couldn't help notice he lingered. It was a concept Andrea had explained to her last summer, they kiss or hug you, but instead of drawing away slowly or anything, they hover for a few extra seconds. They linger.

"So how long until I get to see you?" Jacob asked, Hermione had explained that she was going away for a road trip with some friends.

"You could always come over tomorrow and meet some of my friends, before we leave." She said, then Pansy could get her say in about Jacob judging by more then the one encounter.

"Yeah?" He said, "cool. I'll be over tomorrow, then."

"Okay."

"I'll see you then." With one last smile he walked back to his car and climbed in. She couldn't see anything through the tinted windows but she had the feeling he was looking at her so she waved and let herself inside. She passed Draco, Blaise and Pansy on the way inside and looked away from them without comment. Draco and Blaise glared at her.

The evening dragged on to night, where she lay awake in bed. Pansy had sought her out and asked for another lesson on the muggle electronics. They'd moved from the camera to the laptop, which Pansy got very quickly, to the iPod. Hours had gone by and they were still up at two in the morning. The lesson ended when Hermione said she was too tired to continue, but now she couldn't sleep. Harry and Ron were both sleeping soundly, Pansy would roll over occasionally with a sigh and Blaise was sleeping, though silent. Tonight it was Draco who was gone, and she couldn't help but wonder where he was. Maybe she really wouldn't be with him and Sheila and James were lying. Probably not.

-

-

The next morning passed in a blur of movement. Jacob came over and met Harry, Ron and Pansy, all of which admitted approval of him even if it was rather grudgingly. Andrea had come with him and as Jacob talked with Pansy and Hermione she was with Ron and Harry. On the way out the door Andrea gave her a thumbs up and Pansy later told her she totally approved of him. Hermione said, quite slyly, she approved of Riley too and left Pansy mystified to check through all her things.

Then Pansy, who had decided to ignore what she'd said, found her later and requested another lesson in her muggle stuff, claiming she wanted to know everything before they left. So for the remainder of the time they had she showed Pansy how to use her cell phone and programmed her own phone number into it. Then she helped download a variety of muggle bands onto her iPod and decided she may as well do her own as well. Pansy became very taken to Kanye West and was singing his song 'Stronger' very loudly as she left with all her stuff at 2:30.

Harry and Ron came in to say their goodbyes and then Harry left. Ron said he was sorry for overreacting about Jacob before and he actually liked the guy. He was glad Hermione had found someone. On that note he left her to wait ten minutes until she could go down to the lobby. Sheila and James smiled brightly at her and had someone take her luggage and store it in one of two cars.

"So we take this time to inform you of a new addition to the show called the confession box. In your car," (the cars turned out to look like a regular vehicle but was more spacious inside) "there is a small room with an armchair in it. You are to sit in the chair and can say anything you want in it. As I'm sure you're well aware it will go out on the show, but you might need to let off some steam. Your mother has informed up that you can drive quite well and were going to test to get your license this summer. We've made you a temporary one for now, you can test when you get back. All your travel companions can drive because we tested them while you were on your date. You'll find a package inside your car with your name on it containing some cash, your license, and a few little extra things. By the way, your file was found in your bedroom and one of the guys accidentally dropped it in the pool, so it's gone."

"What?" She exclaimed, she hadn't even read it yet!

"And since we know you lied to us we feel no regret in telling you we aren't giving you another copy. Is there anything else? Nope. Any question?"

"What? Oh, uh, no." She said, trying to absorb this.

"Oh good, then let's go. Please put this mask on." A mask was placed over her eyes and she couldn't see anything. Strangely this didn't bother her, she felt content and thought of Jacob. Was that why she wasn't afraid now? Was it because Jacob was now inside her mind, filling the gap darkness created?

"We'll see you at your destination!" James said in a sing song voice, singing 'Ordinary Day' under his breath again.

"James!" Sheila half-shrieked in exasperation.

"Sorry, darling."

Someone was leading her into the parking lot, she could tell because she recalled stepping down these steps to get into the car with Jacob. They were going left; the same direction Jacob had driven them out of the parking lot. She heard the sound of a door opening, someone was climbing into the car and helping her up after them.

"Right here," they muttered, setting her down on a chair and they went into silence. Minutes later she heard the door open and two more people climbed in, one of her housemates and one their leader. "I'm going to silence them," hers said, "so they don't make any noise."

She probably couldn't have said anything if she wanted to, anyway, but she didn't blame them for the extra precaution. Now she couldn't hear anything, like she was in a bubble. Minutes passed, which she occupied with thinking about Jacob. God, she liked him a lot.

"Okay, we just got the signal, we're going to leave you now. As soon as we're out of the car, your blind-folds will come off. Have a fun time!" They were in a hurry. The door slammed, the mask peeled from her skin and she blinked, adjusting to the light.

"Holy fuck." It tumbled from her mouth in the worst possible tone, astonishing even herself. All she could do was sit there in shock, how could this happen? The two people looked at her, groaned, and then turned their backs on her.

There was slight deliberation as they decided who would drive, which Hermione didn't contribute to because she couldn't. Her brain just wasn't functioning at the moment. This wasn't possible! The GPS was turned on and the car started, they had decided to let her get it together and then they were going to make her drive. They weren't as experienced, but they would never say it like that.

The House of Hell? No, this was the Car of Hell. How could they do this to her?

-

-

"How could they do this to me?" She ranted in the confession box, "how? Do they even have the slightest idea of what this is going to be like? I-I could die of the loathing building up in here! I could be destroyed! They can both do magic, they both hate me! They're doing this because they want me to use the goddamn honesty box and the only way I will is if I'm thoroughly upset. Are you happy!" She yelled into the screen, "how in fucking hell could you do this to me? I hate this stupid show, and the stupid producers, and the stupid idea, and the stupid viewers who are probably delighting in my pain right now, I hate the stupid people on the show, I hate stupid Sheila and stupid James, and I hate my stupid parents for making me do this! Ugh!"

She was beside herself. This was unbelievable. She was releasing the blowup she'd been holding in this whole time. Words didn't even describe her distress. She could even see Sheila and James, grinning like Cheshire cats as they imagined her predicament. She hated this. Why her? What did they have against her? This was horrible. Did they realize that by putting her in a bad mood she was going to be in a right state for the entire day and night?

"I bet you did! I bet you planned that putting me in a bad mood was going to make me be in a right state for the _entire_ day and night! I hate this show! You put me in a small car, for fourteen days with _Malfoy_ and _Zabini_? So you know what? I'm not going to try and not fight, because I don't feel like trying to get along anymore. But you'd better be pretty nice to me at the hotel." She let out a mad laugh and stood up, leaving the small room. Back at the studio Sheila and James sat by the screen, not a hint of a smile on their faces.

"Uh oh."

The Gryffindor bookworm had cracked.

**Long Author's Note: Dun dun dun. I don't think that who she is with came as a big surprise to any of you, it wouldn't do to have anyone she liked with her. XD. Her saying Zabini instead of Blaise is a mark of how upset she is. She realized when she passed them and he glared that it was stupid of her to think he'd never done anything to her. **

**I am actually aware that the style of writing did change slightly to the end of the chapter, that's just a weird thing. It will be the same next chapter and if you didn't notice anything, it's all good anyway!**

**Aww, shoot there was something I wanted to say here and I can't remember anymore… shoot. Well have a good weekend, eat lots of food if you haven't already. **

**WAIT! I have a question, now. Okay, the last two chapters have been totally unplanned and I wrote them directly on my computer, so they were fresh and never before written. I don't know if you actually noticed a difference, but I think I may have updated sooner. Is that good with everyone? If you've noticed a difference in the content, tell me whether it's good or bad. This means the lengths aren't going to be constant, so tell me any thoughts regarding this. If you don't really know what I'm talking about, that's good too, I don't understand myself sometimes.**

**Oh yeah, and in regards to Riley and Pansy****they're not together and I'm sorry for skipping their time but I thought this start to the chapter was better then some weird hour they have with Riley.**

**So anyway, the end of a very long author's note, thanks for reading and…**

**Review review review!**


	10. Click Here

**Author's Note: Here we go people, next chapter! I'm trying to update faster, so hopefully this is much before the end of October. By the way, I changed the e-mail format because I like it this way better. Oh, and I realize that some of the stuff in here is from this year, as opposed to in the time the books are set in, but bear with me please.**

**I'd also like to say thanks! The last chapter got quite a bit of a response!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. (This includes the song Stronger, the books Twilight, New Moon or Eclipse, or any other recognizable material).**

Hermione was in a bad mood. It was obvious to both Draco and Blaise, even more so because she didn't try to hide it. She sat in the back, arms and legs crossed, tapping her foot to her own timer. As their GPS told Blaise to turn right she let out an exasperated 'hmfph!'

"Granger, do us all a favor and shut up." Draco snapped, as thoroughly irritated by the groups as the other two. Had he been wise he wouldn't have said anything, unfortunately this handsome blonde was more preoccupied with making himself feel better. The only way he saw fit to do that was annoy Hermione. But she was already annoyed, so he could only annoy the already annoyed Hermione.

"Piss off, Malfoy!" She hissed, seizing the only way to release her anger. "I don't care how you feel about these arrangements, as far as I'm concerned you are just another prop in this ridiculous show that is supposed to make me into a hysterical lunatic."

"By the looks of it you already are one." He snarled, twisting in his seat to look at her.

"You'd be the expert on raving lunatics, wouldn't you Malfoy? It sure is a good thing your father is locked up to keep himself safe. Oh, I forgot, he's in Azkaban and it's to keep others safe from him." She smirked, "or is it all the same to the Dementors?"

"Shut up, mudblood." He spat, reaching for his wand. Suddenly Blaise jerked the car and they all slipped, since none of them had their seatbelts on. Muggle safety wasn't their first priority. Plus, the car had spells on it in the case of an accident.

"Sorry." He muttered, focusing on the road again.

"Right," Hermione growled, "like you didn't do that on purpose to interrupt our argument. I was just about to hex him into next week, must you insist on being his lover _and_ his protector, Zabini?"

Blaise's jaw actually dropped and Draco was seething as she sat there, completely satisfied. For some reason, Blaise had assumed Hermione would leave him alone since she insisted on calling him by his first name. _Not anymore, _he guessed. She rolled her eyes in the mirror and glared at them, burning holes through the reflective surface.

"Turn on the radio." She ordered, leaning forward.

"No." Blaise said stiffly, under no insistence would he follow _her _orders.

"Turn it on," she repeated, raising a challenging eyebrow. "If you turn it on now, I'll keep it at a reasonable volume."

"I said no." Blaise said, clenching the steering wheel tighter.

"Just turn on the goddamn radio!" She yelled, reaching out to press the button.

"Stop!" Draco grabbed her wrist, "what the hell is your problem? Do you think we like having you here any more then you like being here? Get a grip, Granger."

"Aren't you going to melt or something?" She asked coolly, ignoring what he'd said. "You do realize you're touching my bare skin? Or maybe you're using this as an excuse to touch me. What's with that, ferret?"

"I was making a point," he snapped, shoving her hand away. She settled back against the seats, arms and legs crossed, once again tapping her own rhythm on the floor. Five minutes of this mixed with her insults and threats had Draco at boiling point. He probably should have been worried when she stopped, but he wasn't.

"Thank god, I was beginning to wonder if you would ever just shut the fu-" His next words were drowned out by '_work it, make it, do it, makes us harder, better, faster, stronger' _blasting. He jumped about a foot in the air, which was quite a feat considering he'd been sitting down. "Turn it down!" He roared and couldn't even hear himself.

Hermione was grinning, bobbing her head and singing along to the music. Her plan to irritate the two boys was working. This was going to be one fun car ride.

Three hours later Draco was suffering from a severe headache and he was very annoyed. So annoyed, in fact, he was considering giving up and letting the other team win. For one thing, he was now hungry. He hadn't spoken in over three hours. Hermione was having the time of her life back there, singing and listening to music and slowly inching the volume even louder then before. He could see her in the mirror. He also noticed how frequently she would look at him and then grin evilly.

Finally, in between the changing of songs, he said, "I'm hungry."

Hermione took this as an opportunity to vent out her still sizzling temper, so she turned the dial down. "Anything else?" Her voice was polite in a fake sort of way.

"Yeah, I think we should stop somewhere." He said roughly, rolling his eyes at Blaise. They were probably in for another argument.

"Yeah, me too." She said, a grin lighting her face. This could have been taken as an ominous sign, but Draco really was hungry and he was not in the mood to think about her mood swings. They pulled into a restaurant alongside the road and climbed out.

Hermione was not in a charitable mood. So she decided that Blaise and Draco could figure out how to order themselves. And there was no way in hell she was going to show _them_ how to use muggle currency. She watched them from the corner of her eye, standing by the door, staring as she walked up to the counter and ordered her food. They plopped it down on the counter in front of her and she paid. To her surprise she turned around and nearly ran into Draco.

"Ah, so you've ordered, love?" He asked, his voice was falsely loving and it gave her the creeps. Then, to her horror, he embraced her in a way that kept her steamy food safe in its paper bag but was still close enough to be _intimate_. "I'll just take the same." He nodded to the guy behind the counter who was staring at them, "it's been a long drive. Actually make it two," he jerked his head in Blaise's direction. He was lounging against the panes of glass on the windows. Then he pulled Hermione around so his arm was around her waist. "You know how he gets."

"Right." She said through gritted teeth. Her two companions had already attracted the entire female population in the building, there was no need to make a scene, however much it would satiate her desire to slug him.

"Thanks," he threw down a few twenty dollar bills, "just keep the change, man. And do people a favor, get a haircut."

Before the other man could reply he'd swept up the food and was walking away with her. As they neared the door she shook him off and stalked the rest of the way to the car. How dare he? How dare _they_? This was, obviously, _their_ fault. If she hadn't been put with him that whole situation would never have happened.

"What's wrong Granger? You look a bit upset." Draco called after her, and she was thoroughly annoyed to note that she could almost _hear_ his smirk.

"Do I?" She spat, pulling open the side door. "Because I can't possibly imagine why I would be upset. It's not like I'm stuck with the two biggest pricks in the human world for fourteen days."

"Aw thanks, you really are too kind, Granger." Blaise said, smirking.

She looked over and him and found herself hating ever inch of him. "Fuck off, Zabini." It was the second time she'd sworn badly in the day and it annoyed her that she was losing her ability to form witty retorts.

His smirk slid off his face as she climbed through and slammed the door closed. Draco sniggered and rolled his eyes at the other male. "Granger is seriously losing it."

"I know." Blaise said, his voice edgy.

"Remind me to thank Sheila and James when we get back." Draco smirked and climbed into the passenger's side of the car. Blaise frowned and climbed into the driver's seat.

It didn't take long for the car to start smelling like fast food. Draco, who had eaten his rather grudgingly, opened the windows with a mutter of, 'disgusting'. Blaise hadn't touched his own, and Hermione ate hers slowly. By fast food standards, it was the worst. In fact, Hermione was quite sure that the food was only just edible. Her Pepsi was good, and so she drank it quickly. The caffeine slowly began to make her hyper, until she was unable to keep still and started drumming her fingers on the window.

Trees were flashing by very quickly and she glanced up to the front. "How fast are we going?"

"A hundred and thirty." Blaise answered. How was the car going that fast?

"A bit fast?" She rolled her eyes, but he made no inclination to slow down. "This is boring." There was no answer. "What time is it?"

"6:30." Draco said, his tone was annoyed.

"Huh." She said, "So how long are you going to be driving for?"

"I don't know." Blaise answered. There was a screech of tires on pavement as he spun them in a quick 'U' turn and took a left. "I like driving."

"Doesn't it bother you that muggles invented driving?"

"How do you know?" Draco asked, "for all you know it was a wizard that pretended to be a muggle."

This stumped her. But it couldn't be true, could it? "Whatever, Malfoy."

"Granger I think you've lost your brains, because your ability to come up with retorts is gone. Not that you had much in the first place." Draco said and smirked, "is your brain still in a fuzz since you realized you'd be able to look at me for fourteen days?"

"Yes, it is. I'm sure a lot of people have gone through the same thing when they realize they can't avoid your ugliness." She snapped, pulling out her laptop. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk to me."

"If hearing your voice didn't make my ears burn, I would, just to annoy you." He snarled and leaned back against his seat.

She flipped up the top and pulled up her e-mail link. Andrea had sent her another message. She clicked the subject and was immediately redirected to the e-mail.

**To: I can't believe you're dating my brother!**

**From: Hopefully the only girl's brother you're dating.**

**Time: 6:21 PM**

**Subject: Where are you?**

_Hey!_

_I cannot believe you insist on using correct grammar and all that stuff in e-mails. God. Nerd much?_

_So anyway, Jacob got back and he was all happy and junk, but I didn't ask for details because how weird would that be? So then, of course, we had dinner and he started getting all sulky and unhappy so, like the compassionate sister I am, I said that you probably didn't care that the date sucked, because you like how stupid he is. He glared at me and said you were going somewhere for two weeks and then he stomped off. You would've thought a bit of college would make him a bit less immature._

_So I'm here to ask you where the hell you are!? I'd rather not venture into his room, who knows what I'll find in there. –shudders- Eww. So how did the date go? He wouldn't even tell me where you were going. _

_Talk to me! Your cell number won't go through. _

_Love, Annie. 3_

She smiled to herself. Jacob was sulking because she was gone? It wasn't like she wanted him to be unhappy at her expense, but still… She hummed happily to herself as she pulled up a new message.

**To: Of course I'm only with your brother.**

**From: Hermione**

**Time: 6:43 PM**

**Subject: It was amazing. And I don't even know where I am.**

_Hi,_

_I am not a nerd. ___

_Actually I'm going on a road trip with Malfoy and Zabini, two of the guys I live with. It wasn't really my choice, but I guess talking to you can keep me sane. _

_You know, you really are not as compassionate as you seem to think. XD And the date did not suck! It was, as I said before, amazing. And Jacob is not stupid. And no, I'm not just saying that because I'm going out with him. But I dunno, are we dating, technically? What do I call him? My boyfriend? We only went out once. What if I'm just assuming too much? I'm a lot better with this stuff when it's not me._

_We walked through the forest to this really romantic clearing and we sat there and talked and after he kissed me and I was euphoric. You might not think it was that great, but I did. I do. Oh god, I really like him._

_My cell phone number won't go through? Maybe we're too far away. _

_Talk to you later,_

_Hermione_

She clicked send and sat there, smiling.

"Granger if you keep grinning like an idiot you're going to break the mirrors." Blaise snapped as he glanced up.

"Shut up." She growled, her smile sliding off her face. _I should look them up. _With a sly smile at the two in the front she went to google and brought up the website for the show. From there she found a page on Draco and began to read out loud.

'"_Draco_ _Malfoy is the son of Lucius Malfoy, one of the key components in the incident involving the acceptance of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return one year ago. His mother, Narcissa Malfoy, was not reached for comment after that event but is always ready with her wand if the subject is broached. He is an attractive just-turned seventeen year old. It is rumored that no matter who you are or what you look like, if he looks at your for longer than three seconds your are immediately liked more by your peers. Not only is he devastatingly handsome, he is also stunningly intelligent, rivaled only by the House's own Hermione Granger _**(follow this link for more on her). **

'"_The aura of mystery follows this young man around, as do the eyes of every female who has ever set eyes on him. "'The first time I saw him I think I almost fainted.'" Admits Hannah Abbott, a pretty Hufflepuff in Draco's year. '"It's a shame he turned out to be such a prejudiced ass."' When asked why she is insulted by this when she herself is a pureblood, she glared at the reporter with stunning blue eyes. '"Hermione Granger is one of my friends and he is awful to her. Not only that, but anyone who discriminates by bloodline is not someone I want to be with."' This statement shows why Hannah was sorted into Hufflepuff, the house known for its loyalty in Hogwarts."' _Hermione had begun to trail off halfway through the paragraph, this wasn't what she was expecting and she continued reading slowly.

'"_Draco's own housemates show incredible loyalty to him. He is considered somewhat of a leader to them in his house, out ruling even older students. On a regular day in school he is seen strutting around the grounds, showing off not only his dominance, but his collection of faithful followers, who are never far behind.'" _She stopped abruptly, this was not what she was looking for. Ignoring the rest of the extensive page she looked away.

"What the hell was that?" Draco asked suddenly, he'd been silent the entire time.

"It was…" She paused, "your character description on the website for the show."

"And why were you reading it?" He asked, his voice controlled. It took her awhile to process that underlying his calm façade, he was very angry.

"Because I wanted to bug you." She snapped, "it's a free country, I can do what I want."

"Well it's a load a bullshit." He snarled, swiveling around to look at her with his raging grey eyes. "I hope you're happy, because it did bother me."

"I am." She hissed, but she wasn't really happy. It sort of disgusted her at what was written. All about how he had a band of followers and people thought of him as a leader, while also saying he was a pureblood freak but he was handsome.

"Is there one on me?" Blaise asked suddenly, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Yes." She answered honestly.

"Can you read it?"

"Oh, okay."

She cleared her throat a bit nervously as she clicked on the link to Blaise's page. "Erm…okay. Here it is. '_Blaise Zabini is the son of the famously beautiful Elizabeth Zabini, married to Charles Zabini. Being the best friend of Draco Malfoy_** (Follow this link for more on him) **_one would think he would have to draw attention to himself. However, Hogwarts students have said that no one can't not notice him, even when he is silent. He also has his fair share of girls that flock after him, none of which he shows any interest in. We wonder why this is, however when asked by anyone he either does not answer and gives you a cold look with his amazing eyes, or will tell you to mind your own business. If you ask a Slytherin about this, they will simply ignore you or reply with something rude. We have, however, figured out the reason. Blaise Zabini is in love with-"_

"Stop." Blaise said suddenly, his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel.

"What?" She scanned the rest of the sentence. "There's nothing here that's bad."

"Right," he said, taking cleansing breaths. "Just-just skip that part."

'"Okay," she said, unsure of what caused such a strong reaction. A quick glance at Draco showed him looking at Blaise with soothing eyes. "So…oh right. _'When asked his opinion of Blaise, Ravenclaw Terry Boot laughed. 'I don't know, I don't really know him. He can shoot the evilest glare ever. The girls in my House always say stupid stuff about melting when they look at him. From what I know, I don't like him.' _

'"_Blaise is considered somewhat of the second command after Draco. He has known disagreements with Pansy Parkinson _**(click here for more on her) **_and it is said that unlike his other housemates, he doesn't seek arguments. However, he will snap a quick retort if someone from Slytherin is under attack from someone else. With his loyalty and his sharp mind he makes a formidable opponent.' _Should I go on?" She looked up.

"No." Blaise said stiffly. "Read yours."

"What? No." She exclaimed.

"You read ours out loud, why won't you read yours? Are you scared?" Draco sneered, sitting tensely in his seat.

"I'm not scared." She snapped, "But I'm not going to read it just because you want me to."

"Fine." Draco snapped. She heard shuffling and he pulled out his black laptop.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he turned it on.

"What does it look like?" He growled, "I'm going to read yours for you."

"How do you know how to use it?" She asked triumphantly, certain that he was going to realize he had no clue what he was doing.

"Pansy." He said simply. She felt her jaw drop. So all along while she'd been teaching Pansy how to use the stuff, Pansy had been teaching Draco? "Ah, here it is."

"Don't." She said in a firm voice.

"Well, just because you asked," he said sarcastically and cleared his throat. _'"Hermione Granger is the daughter of Jane and Chris Granger. She is the friend of Harry Potter _**(Click here for more on him) **_and Ron Weasley_** (Click here for more on him)**_ who she is rumored to have something romantic going on with. She is known for her bushy brown hair and her extreme intelligence. Throughout her years at Hogwarts she has taken part in the mysterious adventures with Harry _**(click here for more on him)**_ and Ron _**(click here for more on him).**

'"_In her fourth year she had a love triangle with Harry Potter _**(Click here for more on him) **_and Viktor Krum _**(click here to go straight to his fansite). **_When asked about Hermione, Ravenclaw Anthony Goldstein said, "oh, brilliant. Really brilliant, yeah. Great friend. A bit feisty, but hey," the strapping young man laughed, "guys like that." When asked by the reporter if he would ever pursue a romantic relationship with her he shook his head. "I fancy my face the way it is, thanks."_

'"_She is the top of her class in every lesson except potions, where Draco _**(click here for more on him) **_beats her to the punch. Her teachers have nothing but good things to say about her, and we can already tell a bright future awaits this girl…"' _Draco continued reading, his voice becoming more and more disgusted until finally he stopped. "That was painful."

"No one asked you to read it." She snapped, her face red.

"So? You asked me not to, so why else would I?" Draco retorted, smirking as she glared at him.

"Why do you insist on doing this to me?" She huffed, "I hate you, you hate me, or at least my blood, so can we just get past that and try to make this team functional?"

"I don't want to function with you."

"Tell me something," she said furiously, her voice rising. "What is so wrong with my blood? So what, I'm not pureblood, but if you hadn't known that would you still hate?"

He snorted, "whatever answer you're looking for, I'm not going to give you. I don't even know how I'd feel about you, because I already have a firm template in my mind."

"You just admitted that you might feel differently, though." She said, a broad grin of success crossing her face. "It's a start."

Highly disconcerted, Draco said, "so how do you turn on the radio?"

It took them ten whole minutes to find a station they wanted to listen to and a volume all three were comfortable with. They sat in silence as Hermione stared out the window, Blaise drove and Draco focused on staring at the road.

_I hate him. What is his problem? Pansy was so much easier to get along with! And what is up with Zabini, he wasn't being too bad and all of a sudden he's acting just like Malfoy. Slytherins are so confusing, they all have severe emotional issues. _

Happy with this conclusion she pulled out one of the many books she'd packed and set about reading it. At the hour mark she looked up and let out a shrill scream. "Pull over!"

Blaise hit the break and turned swiftly. The car spun into the parking lot and they came to a stop, horizontally in front of a store with a big sign on it, advertising a book.

"What the hell?" Draco spluttered, his face white as Hermione tore through her bag. "What was that about?"

"I'll be right back!" She screeched, dashing out of the car and into the store. Two minutes later she was back in the car, a gleeful smile on her face. "Oh my god!" When she realized they were watching her, her voice dropped about and octave and a half. "What?"

"Care to explain what that was about?" Blaise asked, watching her from the mirror.

"Look," she held up the book. The front cover was glossy and black, with a red ribbon floating across the middle, a tear across the upper part of it. "Eclipse." She breathed, her eyes glassy.

"What exactly is that supposed to symbolize?" Draco asked boredly as she read the back cover, enchanted.

"It's the third book in a series I've been reading. I had no idea it was out already, I mean, I loved the first two but I've been so out of muggle culture." She said, eyes still shining. "It's the most amazing series ever."

"That's all?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes." She said darkly, "that's _all_. You can drive now."

"Thank you so much for your approval, it means a lot." Blaise said sarcastically and they began to drive again, once again hitting the speed of one hundred and thirty.

"Turn off the radio." She ordered as she opened the book, each finger caressing the pages. Draco was more then happy to comply and he pressed the circular button. "Thanks." She said unconsciously as she settled against the seat, eyes a blur as she read.

'_Doesn't change anything. Sorry.'_

Hermione let out a squeak of excitement. Her heart was already beating faster. She loved these books! The thrill of fresh material ran through her and she shivered. Reading, one of the joys of life. As her mind tuned out the rest of the world she read on, delighting in the book's ability to captivate her mind.

"Uh, Granger?" Draco said suddenly, his voice laced with worry, awhile later "what's that noise?"

She looked up, irritated, and listened. "Sirens." _Right behind us. _"How fast are we going?" She asked, her voice forced calm.

"A hundred thirty-five." Blaise said slowly.

"Pull over the damn car you idiot! We're speeding!" She snapped, marking her page and setting the book aside.

With a scowl Blaise pulled off to the shoulder of the road. "I should take this, you'll mess it up." Rather then argue with her, Blaise and Hermione switched places. She looked out the rearview mirror and saw the police man get out of his car, pulling out a notebook.

A mad urge seized her as she insulted Blaise with every word she could think of. This was his fault, after all. She did not want to deal with this, she was in a very bad mood. And then, without thinking, she floored the gas pedal.

Blaise swore loudly as he went flying into the seat and Draco hit his head off the window. She pulled onto the road and set off flying down the street, leaving the shouts of the officer behind her. A grin spread across her face as they kept going, they had just evaded the police!

And that was when she heard the sirens again. They were being chased.

"Uh oh." She said as the noise got closer. She urged the car faster and Draco, rubbing his head, said, "what are you doing?"

"Honestly?" She laughed, "we're in a police chase!"

Blaise sat up, looking incredulous as Hermione wove through the cars, almost double the road's speed limit. "Why don't we just stop the car and let them do whatever they want? You're going to get us killed!" Blaise's voice slurred as they turned abruptly at the GPS's instruction.

"If we stop now we might get put in jail!" She said, the realization of what she'd just involved them in hitting her hard.

Cars were pulling out of the way as they heard the sirens, making it so much easier to get around them. And then, quit unexpectedly, 'turn right at the 4 20 exit.'

"We just passed the 4 20 exit, didn't we?" Hermione said calmly and jerked the steering wheel to the side, spinning the car around and setting them in the opposite direction. Car wheels screeched on the pavement as drivers stopped, only just avoiding collisions. "Oh my god." Hermione said as they found themselves speeding right at the police car.

Now, unlike the Hermione we are used to, who would never have even considered speeding in the first place, she didn't stop. She didn't even back down. Her face held an expression of utmost determination and gripped the steering wheel. They were drawing ever closer and Draco's eyes were widening with fear.

"Granger, slow down." He said, his voice higher then usual. "Stop!"

"No." she said as a sign reading 4 20 came closer with the police cruiser.

"Grangeeerrr!" He shouted as she turned into the exit just before they would have collided with the car.

She let out a whoop as they sped down the quiet road, the sirens faded into the distance. She glanced at Draco and grinned manically, "scared?"

"Never do that again," he whispered, his eyes wide.

"Why?" She smirked, "is poor little Malfoy afraid?"

"Just don't." He said, voice shaking slightly.

"Oh grow up Malfoy, we're fine."

He didn't answer, his face was white tinged green. Blaise looked terrified and was sitting in the back, gripping the seat. "Pull over." Draco croaked and she did, hoping he wasn't going to be sick.

Draco stumbled out of the car and leaned on a tree as he threw up. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and all her anger was gone. Who would have thought? When Draco climbed back into the car he fumbled with a package of gum and chewed the pieces quickly, spitting them out after a minute.

"Okay Blaise, your turn." Hermione climbed out the door and into the back. Blaise took her spot and they set off driving slowly in silence. "Well that was fun." Smiling to herself she opened up her book and began to read again. The two boys exchanged mystified looks.

She was never driving them anywhere again.

**Author's note: I know, this chapter is shorter then usual. XD. Sorry. It just wasn't flowing.**

**OK, I need a favor. One of you readers read my story and added me/the story to a favorite/alert or reviewed or something, and I clicked on your profile (I do that sometimes to check out your stuff, even if you haven't written anything) and in your favorite stories there was one of those cliché stories that mocks others. Well I read it and found it terribly funny, and I didn't save a link to it or anything so I lost it. I looked through all the alerts I got and I couldn't find your name. So if you know of a story like this, tell me. One of the things in it was Draco changing his last name to 'Bear' because he didn't want to be a Malfoy anymore… I found it very funny. XD. I laughed hysterically for awhile. So if this is you, please please please tell me!**

**Anyway, if you have any suggestions or anything you want to see in the road trip tell me! I do actually use ideas if I can fit them in. So anything at all, a particular sentence, fight subject, tell me!**

**P.S. We're almost at a hundred! OH MY GOD! If you review this chapter I'll shout out to you in the next one! Thanks so much, your opinions mean a lot to me and this story!**

**So…**

**Review review review!**


	11. Incorrect Impressions

**Author's Note: Thanks for all your reviews! You guys are amazing! We bypassed 100 by quite a bit. I know I probably replied to some of these already…oh well. I said I'd do a shout out thing and instead of just putting your usernames in there… I'm eating Halloween candy, so if there are references don't be shocked. LOL. I'm also on a sugar high, do not be scared, XD.**

**Sweetvanillalover: Thanks for your reviews! Ah, I'm glad you have faith in me. It shall happen! –mutters in a voice so softly you almost can't hear- Eventually…**

**SCaRoL: Thanks, XD. I wish I could make her do it again…unfortunately, it was out of character enough the first time! Oh well… LOL. It was fun. Thanks for the review!**

**Bestavvie: Thanks. I'm trying to go as fast as I can! XD. Like the little engine that could…my new mantra. **_**I think I can I think I can**_**. Cough**_**Review**_**Cough. Bet you didn't find the message in there! –Grins manically-**

**A****oirokouu14****: If you are a nerd, we should form a nerd club! I read, like, 24/7. I don't think I've ever not been reading a book…LOL. Eclipse just does that. Too awesome. Thanks for the review!**

**PeanutluvsHP: I have not yet found the fic. I am quite sure I did not hallucinate it, though. I shall find it! LOL. Thanks for your support, no suggestions is good, right? LOL.**

**Rain Malfoy: Oohh, I'm honored! Thank god you don't think she was a bit out of it. Nobody seems to think I'm a lunatic, so I think I'm in the clear. Whew! Thanks so much for your review!**

**Inner Self: Oooh, a race? Sheile/James (maybe I should call them Shame. Ha-ha, get it? LOL. .) inspired by Hermione's car chase? I like it! Imagine Pansy behind the wheel… I could totally see her have spikes come from the side of the car…LOL.–Calms down- We'll see. (I hate it when my mother says that to me. Ugh.) The drawbridge has been in my head ever since I read your review. Thanks:D.**

**Yaznations: Laughing? I would have been screaming like a crazy madwoman. Then after I would have laughed hysterically for days. XD. I'm weird like that. My story is cool? Yay!**

**Q8iya: Originality. I like it. :D. Pulling over for a book…I wish my parents actually would if I did that… Well I bet I've already talked to you three times since I wrote this… :D.**

**Burnin4christ: So glad you loved it am I. Wait…I am so glad you loved it. There we go. :D. Have you ever done that? Said something that made no sense till you unscrambled it? Do you like Doritos?**

**Cemicool: Thanks! People seem to find this one very funny… I'll go with it! XD. I'm one of the people that makes jokes and laughs hysterically at them while other people look at me like I'm crazy…LOL.**

**Arathigal: Thanks! Woohoo! House of Hell can also be HOH. Like Santa Claus. LOL. I find that amusing. Anyways…I just ate a particularly difficult to chew piece of candy…So yeah… thanks for your review!**

**Max Ride Fan 13 (Two in one): Thanks for the correction, I have yet to fix it…LOL. Pansy and Blaise…could I see them together? Meh. We'll find out later! Well I already know…anyways…I may have said this, but the image of Hermione hitting Draco over the head with a book is very appealing. It's going in.**

**October Addums: Do you like Doritos? Zesty cheese…mmmm. I might have to make Draco eat Doritos in this chapter…Yeah…Have you ever heard of Dutch Crunch? They're good…LOL. So thanks for your review, by the way. XD.**

**Zarroc: I love your reviews…Always so great. The car chase seems to be a crowd favorite. Hm…I can't leave you out on the cheese action, do you like Doritos? Thanks for the review!**

**Jen: Thanks! I love caps locky things. –Sighs- The only way to express yourself. With Caps. I love babbling! God, I could babble for forEVER. (Notice I used the caps. Ha-ha. I'm hyper).**

**AshleyEH: Funny…an adjective none of my friends would desribe me with… Unless looking comes after it, but they're just so funny. XD. I think…LOL. Anyway, I love when you laugh hysterically at things…I read this one fic and I don't even remember it and (honestly) it wasn't the best but one part had people drop llamas on them and then someone told them someone was trying to get revenge and sorry, they took all the llamas and it was back to normal, then Hermione's like 'that was weird' and I laughed for at least five minutes straight. God, I'm weird. XD. Thanks for the review!**

**AmOrFoReVeR****: I love how half the people who review exclaim over Eclipse. I LOVE IT! Ew… I'm eating this gross looking gummy thing that is a hotdog between a set of teeth, grossness. So thanks for the review!**

**ICY192: There's that 'funny' word again. Still amazes me. XD. Draco Draco Draco, the poor little man. Can play Quidditch but can't handle a car chase. –Shakes head- Thanks for the review!**

**Mmmsizzle: Thanks! I'm glad you like my story. By the way, do you like Doritos? I love them at this moment in time. I'm listening to the Phantom of the Opera, too. XD. Love that movie.**

**CLBisMe: Woot woot thanks for your review! I'm an owl. Actually no, a beaver. In my science class we have code names so she can post our marks on the side board without anyone but us knowing and mine is Beaver. Its an inside joke, quite funny. XD.**

**Sarena678: Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey. Sorry, I just had this mad urge to do that. LOL. Thanks for your review, it was grreeeaaaattttt! He-he, Tony the Tiger much? Do you like Doritos?**

**Silidons: Hellooooooo Dahling. I'm pretty sure I've talked to you already, oh well. Do you like Doritos? LOL. I am sooo glad it's the weekend. Well it is right now, probably not as you read this. I have three tests on Monday! AGH!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. Harry Potter or Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse.**

"I like her so much better when she's asleep." Draco said as he looked back at a softly snoozing Hermione. She was lying on her side on the cushy seat in the back, a blanket from her room thrown over her body clumsily so her jean covered legs were exposed.

"I thought you didn't like her at all?" Blaise asked, amused.

"I don't." He said, rolling his eyes. "I hate her a bit less, then."

"Okay."

Blaise leaned forward and turned on the radio, rotating the dial quickly so it played softly in the background. Draco was driving now, and he seemed much more confident about it then he had at the beginning.

"Have you ever wondered if…" Blaise looked unsure of himself and Draco was sure he knew where this was going. "Do you think Granger might have issues? She seems kind of unstable. Massive mood swings."

Never mind. He had no idea where this was coming from or going to. "Yeah, she's mental. What else is there?"

"Draco you know she's not really mental-not yet anyway. Seriously, for a few minutes think about it. It's not like she'll hear you, she's asleep. Have you wondered if you'll drive her insane?" Blaise closed his eyes and leaned back comfortably on his seat.

"Nope, never thought about it. But thanks for planting that thought in my head." He said sarcastically, "why would I think about Granger's welfare?"

"When do you not think about her or Potter or Ro-Weasley? You're always thinking, talking, hexing or plotting ways to hex them." Blaise said, a smirk gracing his lips. He knew he had Draco now.

"What do you want me to do, have tea parties with you?" Draco snapped, taking a turn more sharply then necessary. "I'm not interested in that kind of thing, sorry."

Blaise blushed, "no. But there are a lot of people who have lives that don't revolve around hating the Dream Team."

"My life does not revolve around those blood traitors. The Weaslies ar-"

"I've talked with Ron and he's a lot better company then you are half the time." Blaise snapped, "in fact if I hadn't been forced to endure all your jealous whining I might have been friends with him."

"You say Granger has massive mood swings? You're worse then a pregnant woman." Draco muttered, scowling. He looked over and saw Blaise turn away from him and look out the window. As he turned back to look out the front he saw Hermione's eyes widen and shut quickly. He pretended not to notice.

-

-

The next morning Blaise was driving again and he pulled into a cheap motel parking lot off to the side of the major highway they were on. Hermione sighed and rolled over in her sleep, falling off the seat with a thud, hitting her head on the metal piece underneath it. Draco jerked awake at the noise and hit his head on the window. Blaise laughed at this and when he raised his hand push some hair from his face he hit the middle of the steering wheel. They all jumped and managed to hit their heads on something as a horn blared through the parking lot and a few shouts reverberated in the air. A couple stuck their heads out of their car and yelled for quiet. All three of them were disgusted to see that their hair was messy and neither was wearing a shirt.

Hermione jumped to the front of the car and turned off the horn, which had successfully overlapped Draco and Blaise's obscene shouts at the two.

"Shut up!" She hissed, "they're going to kick us off the property."

"That's a real shame." Draco said sarcastically.

"Well if you want a shower, technically it is." She snapped, "we'll check in really quick, have a shower, change and then get out of there. There are scheduled stops in our book. I want to shower."

"Agreed," the other two boys said.

-

"What do you mean we can't check in for half an hour?" Hermione asked, making the woman at the desk quail under her glare.

"Sorry dawl," she said, blowing a bubble and popping it, "but we don't do no half hour check ins. You're just gonna have to pay for the night."

"We'll be really quick," Hermione said, leaning in close. "If you don't give us a room, I swear we will find somewhere else to it in this cheap, crappy motel. I don't think your other, erm, residents will be happy if they find us in their room."

The woman scanned the trio. Hermione's bushy hair and pursed lips, Draco messy blonde hair(though he still looked amazingly sexy) and two bruises formed on his head, and Blaise, with his dark hair standing almost straight up and his dark eyes boring into her. Not to mention their day old wrinkled clothes.

"You three seem like you go at it pretty damn hard, so I'll give you a discount. But you'll have to pay the price for it, 'K' dahling?" She said, using her inch long red nails to click across her computer screen.

"Sure, whatever we can get. I'm tired of the car, I feel so dirty." Hermione said. Blaise began smirking as the woman's jaw dropped a bit.

"How long have you been going?"

"About a full day." Hermione sighed and Draco snorted, covering it with a cough. She shot him a _shut it_ look. "Not as long as we could've gone, considering our stamina and stuff, but I feel like I'll explode if I don't find somewhere else. I banged my head on the floor this morning. How I got in that position I do not know, but I did."

"Oh wow." The woman said, her gum dropped from her mouth into her lap. She picked it up and put it back in her mouth. "Oh wow."

"I know." Hermione said, elbowing Draco. He and Blaise were shaking from the effort not to laugh out loud. What was his problem? He was being so rude. What was so funny? She threw down some bills, making a note to get Draco and Blaise to pay her back later.

"Here is your receipt," after several tries she picked it up from the desk and handed it to Hermione, who was careful to avoid the massive nails attached to her hand. "Have a nice time."

"Yeah," Blaise said, snatching the receipt and dragging her away.

"Wait!" The woman stood up and ran over to Hermione. Her stiletto heels and tight dress making it very difficult. "Hun I got a question. I've seen some pretty ugly girls come in here with some pretty delicious men, but dawl, how did you manage to get them to hook up with you?"

Hermione's jaw dropped and her face flamed red, like fire catching to an oiled log. "_Excuse me_?"

Draco stepped forward, smirking. "You haven't seen her without clothes on." He winked and dragged a mortified Hermione away as Blaise followed, sniggering.

"You imbecile! She thinks we're sex fiends right now!" She hissed, cuffing his ear.

"_Now_? Did you hear yourself at the desk? 'We couldn't gone longer with our stamina?' You told her we've been going at it for a day!" Blaise laughed, he found this situation all very funny, as did Draco.

"Oh." She said, her eyes widening. "Oh dear."

"It was all your doing." Draco smirked, "so our room is 227…"

They followed the maroon colored hallway and she couldn't help but think of Ron. She wondered how he and Harry were faring with Pansy.

-

-

"You're joking." Pansy had said as she stared at the two males, grinning at each other. They both looked over at her and the grins faded.

"I forgot about her." Ron said, wrinkling his nose with distaste.

"Thanks." She said sarcastically. "Just so you know, I'm not driving and no matter what you say to me, I won't reply. So don't waste your breath. Oh, and if I do speak to you, it would be to tell you I want to pull over the car. So don't object, got it?"

"You are driving at some point, Parkinson." Harry said, sharing an amused glance with Ron. They obviously found her predicament quite funny.

"You want to bet?"

"Sure," Harry shrugged, "because if you don't drive we're not leaving this parking lot." He tossed her the keys and sat in the back seat, Ron beside him as they pulled out Quidditch magazines. She stood there, gaping. They paid her no heed.

"No," she said, sitting down in the driver's seat and folding her arms. "I'm not driving."

Ron looked up for less then a second, "its nice to see the rebellious side of you."

His voice dripped sarcasm and she found this very annoying. They really weren't going to do it. They were going to let the car sit there, for fourteen days. "Fine," she snapped, "I'll drive. But not for the whole thing."

"Glad we got that sorted out," Ron grinned and then pointed to a picture and he and Harry examined whatever move they were looking at. With a huff she started the engine and took off out of the parking lot. With her luck, she was already behind Hermione, Draco and Blaise.

Wasn't this going to be fun?

-

-

Draco took the first shower, followed by Blaise and then finally Hermione, who got a large amount of cold water dumped on her head. The rooms were plain, with a double bed in the center, a chest of drawers across from it, a window, a small table, a chair, and then the bathroom connected by door. Needless to say she wouldn't miss it.

Rejuvenated and a bit happier they left quickly. The woman at the desk, who they never found out the name of, shouted, "the shower? Was it good?" After them as they left through the door. Hermione had turned beet red again and couldn't even look over at Draco or Blaise.

They climbed in the car and she took her turn driving after promising not to exceed the speed limit by 20 km/h. She bought them muffins in a small café and they stopped once in the next five hours, so they could make a bathroom break.

When they changed shifts Hermione heard a small dinging noise. Confused, she looked through bag. It wasn't her cell phone, she couldn't figure out why her iPod was making that noise, was it her laptop? It was. There was a flashing green light, telling her she had a new message.

**To: Hermione**

**From: Jacob**

**Time: 3:21 PM**

**Subject: **_**None**_

_Hey Hermione,_

_So apparently you're with 'Malfoy and Zabini'. Isn't Malfoy the guy you slapped? You said you didn't like him, right? I find it strange that you're spending two weeks with people you don't like. I'm going to miss you, couldn't you trade Malfoy in for me?_

She sighed, smiling. Didn't she wish.

_There is really nothing to do back here. Andrea keeps inviting all her friends over and it kind of disturbs me. They're all insane little freaks. She had another party last night, and I made a point of leaving the house. Of course, I haven't seen anyone around here in awhile, so I ended up in a hotel. It was a very boring night, but I was reacquainted with several of Steven King's novels. _

_I hope to hear from you soon._

_Jacob_

"Granger, you're doing the smile again." Draco said, grimacing as she smiled happily. "The one that makes me feel nauseous."

"Like the car chase?" She changed her tone to sugary sweet. "I would have thought you wouldn't be such a baby."

"I am not a child," he said, annoyed. "if I was I would be screaming for my mother, saying that some insane and extremely ugly woman was looking at me."

"A baby and a whiner, who would have thought?" She said, smirking. "I was just reading an e-mail."

"From who?" He asked, disguising the curiosity in his voice for disdain.

"Jacob." She smiled, "my boyfriend."

His jaw dropped slightly, "you have a boyfriend?" Then he snorted.

"You know the guy that came over before we left?"

"That was him?" Draco looked dubious.

"Yes, that was Jacob." She smiled her honey smile again and he looked away, repulsed.

**To: Jacob**

**From: Hermione**

**Time: 3:49**

**Subject: Not my choice**

_Hey,_

_Yes, the very same Malfoy. It was not my choice, its sort of… a school thing in the summer. Really weird, our teachers come up with a bunch of weird projects and stuff we have to do. I would switch Malfoy for you any time! It would be so much more fun…_

_Steven King, eh? A good time passer? I'll keep that in mind. _

_Well things are pretty strange over here, there's not much to say. There is a woman who thinks me and the two are sex fiends now that have been doing it for a day, but besides that, there's nothing much to say._

_Bye!_

_Hermione_

She clicked send and settled back against the seat. Thinking. There wasn't really much to do. Maybe she should look on the HOH site again? Nah… it didn't even provide that much entertainment. That set her mind thinking about Blaise… the sentence he had freaked out about so much had simply said, 'We have, however, figured out the reason. Blaise Zabini is in love with someone and it is a very well kept secret.'

There was obviously something about that that had irked him. Draco knew about it too, she'd seen the look he shot him. _Calm down. _She glanced at the two of them sneakily from the corner of her eye. Blaise was fiddling with his laptop with a slight frown, he had it turned on and was trying to figure out how to use the touch screen that was the mouse. Draco was focusing on the road, eyes drinking in everything within a five meter radius.

"What are you doing?" She asked finally as Blaise let out a frustrated growl.

"I'm trying to do something," he muttered sulkily.

"Oh." She sat back, if he wasn't going to elaborate then fine.

There was an exaggerated sigh. "Granger?"

"Yes?" She sniggered behind his back and Draco caught it in the mirror, smirking at the expression on her face.

"Can you help me?"

"What? Can _I_ help _you_?" She asked, "sure. What do you need?"

He held up his silver iPod, "this plays music, right?"

"Yeah."

"How do I get it on there?" He glanced into the mirror.

"I can't show you if you're up there." She said and he sighed again. Reluctantly, and ever so slowly, he picked up his stuff and brought it back to where she was. "Okay, so go to limewire…"

Teaching Blaise was nowhere near as easy as teaching Pansy. He insisted on knowing why for everything, and she couldn't always give him an answer. He would ask a bunch of 'what if' situations, like what if he clicked there instead of here? When she said 'don't click there' he would anyway and they would argue for a few minutes. Blaise soon got the gist of downloading the music and then tried to get Hermione to look up a bunch of music for him to download. This was met by another argument, since Hermione told him she was not his slave. In the end, he'd used Hermione's laptop and used her music.

Blaise mumbled something as he moved back to the front, switching places with Draco so he was driving. "What? Sorry, I didn't catch that." She said, shutting off her laptop.

"Thanks," he said, rolling his eyes at Draco.

"Yeah," she said, "no problem."

"So what is this about, anyway?" Blaise held up her book so she could see it. Obviously he had decided to bring it to the front with him. _Eclipse. _

"Give me my book back." She said, reaching out her arm. "If you harm it, I will harm you."

"Let's see it," Draco took it and flipped it open to a random page. '"_Tell us what's going on," he demanded in a growl. Jasper appeared quite literally out of nowhere. One second it was just Alice and me against the wall, Jacob blocking our exit, and then Japer,' _Jasper? What kind of stupid name is that? '_was standing on the other side of Jake's arm, his expression terrifying. Jacob slowly pulled his arm back. It seemed like the best move, going with the assumption that he wanted to keep that arm.' _This Jasper guy seemed a bit temperamental. I think he has mental issues."

"Give me back my book," she snapped. Draco made no such move and she lunged forward, snatching it from his hands. Then she lifted it up and hit him over the head with it. There was a dull _thud_. "Sounded hollow, no surprise there. And I happen to love Jasper!"

Draco rubbed his head and glared at her, "are you always such an abusive bitch?"

"Only when associating with disgusting ferrets." She scowled, "and by the way, _Draco_ is a much stupider name that Jasper."

"Draco happens to be a family name," Draco said stiffly, "what's with _Hermione_? Half the population can't even pronounce it. Just like _Vicky_."

For a moment she was actually struck dumb. She hadn't heard the word Vicky she'd threatened Ron to turn him into a frog if he said it again. "I do not call him Vicky. It is Vik_tor_."

"Oh I'm sorry," he said in a mock polite voice, "tell Vik_tor_ next time you two go snog in a closet that I send my apologies."

"He lives in Bulgaria!" She exclaimed, blushing slightly.

"Aren't the closets the same over there?"

"You. Are. Impossible. I have a boyfriend." She said through gritted teeth. "We send letters, we see each other, like, once a year! Sometimes he visits over the summer! You're worse then Ron."

Draco's jaw slackened for a second. "Did you just compare me to _Weasley_?"

"I did," she faked a gasp, "remind me to apologize to Ron next time I see him."

"I hate you, Granger." Draco snapped at her and turned back to the front.

"I hate you too, Malfoy." She said, unable to keep down a grin.

"You two are very immature." Blaise said, shaking his head.

"Says he who completely freaked out over a sentence." Hermione shot back. This banter was strange in the sense that it was friendly.

It didn't stay that way, however. Draco bit his lip and looked over at Blaise, his hands on the steering wheel tightening. Blaise stiffened, his eyes flashing and his muscles tight. His tone became acidic. "Don't talk about things you don't understand, Granger."

She sat frozen. Why the sudden change in the atmosphere? One moment they had been almost…dare she say it, friendly. They next they were back where they started. Even worse, even. "O-okay."

They sat in silence until Blaise spoke again, fifteen minutes later. "I'm hungry. I'd like to stop."

"Yeah, me too." Hermione agreed and Draco pulled into the nearest building that contained food's parking lot.

"Granger!" Blaise called after her as she got out of the car.

"Mm?"

"Could you…er… could you maybe just buy some stuff that isn't the same as the other food we had. We'll pay you when you get back." He was sitting with his legs dangling over the side of the car and Draco was watching her.

"Oh…erm…sure. Yeah." She said slowly. "I'll be right back, then."

She headed into the store, looking around for some food. Most of the stuff she picked up was snack food, but she did grab a sandwich for each of them. Upon seeing a bag of Doritos she grabbed them as well. She paid and brought back her purchases to the car.

Draco broke off mid sentence when she got back and she had the sneaking suspicion she had just fallen for a ploy to get rid of her.

"What did you buy?"

She set down her two bags on the seat in the back. "Sandwiches," she threw one at each of them, "Pepsi," she threw them each a bottle, "and some snacks. Like Doritos. Zesty cheese." She pulled out the bag and grinned.

"I see," Draco said, eyeing the bag curiously.

"Yeah," she said, her mood lifting. This was better.

-

-

They were traveling through a very rural area and Blaise kept insisting they pull over. Pansy had, apparently, explained the function of his camera to him and he was eager to use it. Every few kilometers he would pull over the car, jump out and snap a few pictures. More then that, the pictures were all very pretty. He seemed to have a natural talent for photography.

"I say we just leave him here next time he jumps out," Hermione said out loud. Draco made a noise sounding suspiciously like humored agreement.

Blaise sat down again, looking ecstatic. "That was a good shot."

"Whoopee." Draco said sarcastically. Hermione laughed. They locked eyes for a second and she stopped abruptly.

"It is a good shot." She said as she examined it. "You shouldn't be so cynical."

"I'm not. We're in a competition. Do you want to lose because Blaise decided to let out his artistic side?" Draco snapped.

"No." They put the pictures on hold for awhile. That had been a subtle reminder of what they were doing, and they were plunged into their thoughts, wondering what they could win. The whole road trip thing was pretty major, fourteen days? The prize would, no doubt, be something major too. Perhaps a day or two away from the house? It wouldn't be leaving the house altogether, no one would agree on who would leave. Maybe whatever group won would get to choose a new component added, or the next challenge or something…

"I'll drive through tonight." Hermione offered, she wasn't very tired. At least not at the moment. When two in the morning came around, she regretted her decision to be social. For awhile.

She turned onto yet another road, turning her lights back up. It was so dark… She was really tired, maybe a quick caffeine stop was necessary. Deciding that this was a good idea she pulled off into the next coffee shop.

"Granger?" Draco said groggily, sitting up from his position in the front. "Where are we?"

"Driving." She said softly, pointing to a slumbering Blaise and putting a finger to her lips. "Do you want something?"

The fact that she was tired and it had been awhile since she'd talked to someone, she was being pleasant. "Yeah, coffee. Black."

She ordered and pulled into the drive through. The guy that was manning the shop was on some kind of sugar high and was bouncing up and down.

"Two coffees, black." He said and thrust the cups at her. She gave one to Draco and held out her hand for change. "So are you guys traveling?"

"Yes." She said and didn't elaborate, simply holding out her hand.

"Oh cool. Where ya goin'?"

"I have no idea." She said and yawned. "Thanks for the service, can I have the change back?"

"In a hurry?" He beamed at them. "Do you like Doritos? They're good. Zesty cheese, yummy."

"Yes." She replied, "it's too early in the morning for a pleasant conversation. Give me the damn change."

"Dill pickle!"

"What?" She asked, "just give me the change, please."

"Okay okay, don't be pushy." He said and handed it back. "I wouldn't want your boyfriend to come after me."

"He's not my boyfriend." She said lazily, putting the money into her wallet and then putting her foot on the gas.

"Oh, it's nice to," as she drove away he leaned out the window until he was on top of the counter and half out of the glass, "meet you! Ow!" The window was starting to close and kept hitting him on the head as it tried to meet up with its other half.

"Yeah yeah," she muttered and took a long sip of coffee-and nearly choked, it was quite strong and very hot.

"Alright there, Granger?" Draco asked, still half asleep.

"Yeah," she said and blew on the top. "Are you sleep talking?"

"No." He replied, "why would I?"

"Because you haven't called me mudblood yet."

"Oh." He said, "I see. Does it really bother you?"

"No, not the word."

"But…"

"The fact that you try to hurt me with it does."

"Oh. I see." He mumbled drowsily. He looked very un-Draco like.

"Do you though?" She took another sip of her scalding coffee. "I don't think you do. If you did you wouldn't still do it."

"What about what you do to me," he said, refusing to believe he was the only problem.

"And what's that?" She muttered, glancing at him. He had a blanket wrapped around him and his nose was slightly red. For a summer evening it was quite cold.

"You judge." He said quietly. And then, quite abruptly, he fell asleep, the coffee still clutched in his hands. She took it out slowly and placed it in a cup holder beside her own. What exactly did he mean by that? There wasn't really much to judge anymore, she knew what he was like. Or was that what he was talking about?

She looked over at his sleeping form and sighed in frustration. At least she wasn't sleepy anymore.

-

-

"Blaise?" Hermione muttered, poking her dark skinned companion at about 6 the next day. He moaned and rolled over, hiding his face from her. "Blaise!"

"What?" He barked, cracking open an eye to look at her. This seemed to be a trade mark Blaise move. Like Draco and lifting an eyebrow.

"Your turn to drive." She rubbed her eyes, was it humanly possible to be this tired?

"Oh." He sighed and sat up. "Do I have to?"

"Yes." She said, smirking. "Buy some black coffee, it should help. Or just have a talk with a half conscious Malfoy and two in the morning."

"Huh?" He asked, moving to the front.

"Never mind," she said. "I'll be asleep in a minute. Don't talk to me, please."

Instead of lying down and dropping into what was a tempting sleep, she dragged her body into the confession box and sat down, staring at where the camera was imbedded in the wall.

"Okay, so the last time I was in here, I was a bit angry." She smiled wryly. "I figured it was in my best interest to announce to the world that I am not a raving lunatic. In fact, the whole police car chase thing was kind of a fluke. I've gotten over it, an am now going to behave my best." She grinned and popped opened her bag of Doritos. "Well, sort of."

She dragged herself back out of the confession box and threw the bag at Draco, waking him up. "Doritos, try them but eat them all and I'll hurt you." Then she collapsed onto the back seat and fell instantly asleep.

"Huh?" Draco muttered, eyes droopy.

"Did you talk to Granger at two in the morning?" Blaise asked him, pulling off the shoulder of the road.

"No," Draco lied, "not that I can remember."

In truth, he did. He remembered everything. However it was not something he was willing to share with Blaise. It would stay between him and Hermione. _And the rest of the Wizarding world. _He thought as he drifted to sleep again.

**Author's Note: I don't think I've ever had my stories updated so close together. LOL. As for the Doritos… -shrugs- Do you guys like them?**

**There's not much I can say right now…wish me luck on my three tests I have Monday (though I don't know what time you're reading this, it could be Monday now!)**

**Review review review!**


	12. Pansy Pickers

**Author's Note: Hi people! Thanks for the response to the last chapter! Oh, and I am **_**unbelievably **_**sorry for the wait. Incredibly so. It's actually December 21****st****! God, I'm such a neglector! I am SERIOUSLY sorry!**

**I posted the first part of my three part story thing, so please read it even slash is not your thing. It wasn't my type of thing until I read a story by someone and now I'm hooked. **

**Oh, and I made a poll for this story, check it out!**

**Inner Self- I had some problems with the martial arts thing. Not the idea itself, but writing it. So I couldn't make it this chapter, because it was already super late. I'll see if I can get it in!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own it. **

Hermione awoke at 11:00 the next morning. Draco had taken the wheel and he and Blaise were talking at the front. She kept her eyes shut, listening intently and trying not to fall in and back to sleep.

"No," Draco was saying firmly, "definitely not."

"Pansy?" Blaise asked, a touch of amusement in his voice.

"No." Draco said quickly, "no no no."

"Lavender Brown?"

Draco snorted, "what's ideal about _her_? She's stupid."

She felt indignant and that she ought to say something on Lavender's behalf, but Blaise's next words shut her up. "Granger?" It hadn't taken her more then a few seconds to realize what they were talking about, and suddenly she was much more interested then she'd been before.

"What do you think?" Draco said indifferently. She could imagine him rolling his eyes right about now.

"Then why did you lie about talking to her last night? Or this morning, I suppose." Blaise pressed, his tone was slightly challenging. She supposed this was because that was the only way to address Draco without him labeling you as unworthy of his time.

"Huh?" Draco asked dumbly.

"Why did you lie about talking to Granger in the morning?" He repeated, exaggerating the pronunciation of each word.

"I didn't lie. I didn't talk to her this morning." He said.

Blaise simply laughed. "After all the time we've spent together, I've figured out your moods and when you're lying, even if they're subtle changes. You're lying."

"I am not." Draco snapped. She was quite sure there was a scowl on his face.

"Mmmhmm." Blaise said skeptically. Draco let out a sigh and turned.

"Does it matter if I did?"

"It does if you make a big deal out of it, which you have." Blaise said, "what did you say?"

"Nothing." Draco said irritably. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"I care because you're trying to hide it."

"I'm not telling you because you want to know." Draco shot back. As Hermione cracked open an eye, she saw them exchange amused grins. "Fine."

"Fine." Blaise said, grinning. A bit unnerved about their very friendly banter, she shifted a bit and sighed in a breathy way, giving the distinct effect of having a good dream. She could hear their seats squeak a bit as they both turned back to look at her.

"I never thought she'd make _that _noise in my presence. Sounds too content." Draco muttered to Blaise and he laughed.

"Yeah, well what do you expect?"

"What?" Draco asked, obviously picking up the sardonic undertone in Blaise's voice.

"You treat her like shit, what do you expect?" Blaise elaborated.

"Why shouldn't I? She's the equivalent of." Draco snapped, his annoyed mood clearly visible.

Blaise made no response and Draco continued. "If you care to differ, why don't you go join her and that poor mudblood lover Weasel?"

As she sat up and shouted, "shut up," Blaise turned and punched Draco straight in the nose with a sickening crunch. Draco slammed down on the break and in one swift motion pulled the key from the ignition. There was a moment in which they all somehow managed to stare at each other at once.

"What the hell is your problem?" Draco snarled, holding his bloody nose. Blaise glared at him and Hermione closed her mouth, wondering if she should lie back down and pretend to have been asleep. If they asked her later she could pretend she was having a very vivid dream. Then he looked at her and spat, "were you listening to us?"

"No," she scoffed and he raised an angry eyebrow. Not that his eyebrow was angry. It was in an angry fashion. "Yes, I was. So what?"

"If I wasn't driving…" He said, leaving the threat hanging.

"Then what?" She asked, glaring at him.

"Then I would-" He was silence as all three of their cell phones rang at once. Confused, Hermione dug hers out from her bag and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hermione, love how _are _you doing?" Sheila's voice floated through the speaker. "I'm just calling to let you know that we've added a bit of an, should we say extra activity to the trip."

"What?" She asked, confused. But the voice just kept going and assumed it must be a recording, since they all seemed to have the same call.

"The co-ordinates on your GPS have been redone, so unless you do what it says and go to your new location, you're stuck without any idea where you are and how to get to the end of this event. In other words, you'll lose." The Sheila recording laughed haughtily, "so if I were you, I would definitely hurry up. Oh, and pick a team name please."

"Damn," Draco swore and fought with his cell phone until it turned off. "I can't believe we have to do a stupid challenge in a challenge already and be expected to win both!"

He turned to the GPS, watching as before his eyes the blue line marking their route changed. "Turn left at the next concession…"

-

-

"Are we there yet?" Hermione sighed, glancing at her watch. It had been forty five minutes since they'd been driving and she was getting slightly anxious. The desire to win this had become increasingly strong until she'd actually started ranting about how she _needed _to win it in the confession (or honesty or truth, she didn't give a damn what its name was) box.

Then they'd tried to come up with a team name, with several suggestions of prejudiced names from Draco. Finally he just spat out, "why don't we call ourselves the bloody fuckers?"

Hermione had snorted. "I don't think so."

"You have arrived." The mechanical voice from their GPS said. Draco pulled into the parking lot and beside a car identical to theirs. So the other group was already there. She felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. Were they behind them?

They clambered out of the car, locked the doors and walked cautiously to the nearest door. The building in front of them was medium size, made of red bricks and one story. There were two windows in the front and a white door.

"Granger, go knock. If you die, it won't be any big loss." Draco said as they stood in front of the door.

"No," she said, "you're the biggest prat alive, if you died people would celebrate."

"I," Draco sniffed, "am heir to one of the biggest wizarding fortunes in the world. My parents would-"

"I don't care," Hermione snapped, "money doesn't mean anything when you're out there blasting people apart."

"Actually, Granger, it means a lot. And when did I say I was going to blast people apart?" He asked smoothly, as Blaise rolled his eyes and moved forward.

"Well you're father-"

"Granger tell me," Draco snapped, "are you like your parents? Are you going to be whatever they do in the stupid muggle world?"

"A dentist?" She asked, "no. I want to be…oh." She realized what he was getting at. "Why are you-"

"Must you argue about everything?" Blaise snapped, opening the door and raising an eyebrow when nothing happened. "Now hurry up. We're probably late."

Feeling quite dumb Hermione cut in front of Draco and followed Blaise down a brightly lit hallway and through the archway at the end. They turned in simultaneously. The archway was wide enough for them and some to fit.

As soon as they were through, James and Sheila pounced. "Welcome!" Harry, Ron and Pansy were all sitting around a circular table in the right corner, chatting amiably. As soon as they caught sight of her, all three perked up. "Hermione!"

"Hi," she said cheerfully. She'd forgotten how comforting the very presence of her two best friends was.

"Well, now you're here-" James began and Draco interrupted him.

"How late were we?"

Sheila smiled coyly, "about half an hour."

Draco frowned, "Granger this is all your fault."

"My fault?" She snapped, her anger and frustration with him exploding. "How is this my fault?"

"You turned the music so bloody loud none of us could actually drive properly." He said. Blaise was rolling his eyes and moving over beside Pansy.

"You just need to accept the fact that you can't drive properly even with loud music," she shot back, "stop making excuses."

"I can drive fine! You drive like a mad lunatic? Gotten into any car chases with please-men lately? Oh right, I forgot. That was two days ago, wasn't it?"

She blushed, "I was in an emotional state."

"You got in a _car chase_?" Harry gaped at her, intensifying her blush.

"Yeah well Malfoy pretended to be my boyfriend! He put his arm on my _waist! Intimately! _For all you know I'll never be able to touch another member of the opposite sex without being reminded of that little ferret!" She said, glaring at him.

"Its good to know I have that kind of effect on you." He said sardonically, "you remember our encounter so vividly. Oh, and weren't you the one who convinced those people at the motel we were a sex-crazed trio? What was it you said? Oh yeah, 'we've been going at it a day' and you 'felt dirty from the car'?"

Harry, Ron and Pansy were watching their exchange with confused, and slightly shocked (with the exception of Ron, who was rather red in the face) expressions while Blaise sighed and sat back to watch. Sheila and James were both beaming, obviously hoping this would escalate and gain publicity for the show.

"That was an accident! I didn't know she was that perverted. Honestly." She said, rolling her eyes. "Oh, and wasn't it you that had the longest shower of the three of us?"

"_I _am hygienic, unlike some people." He snapped, " and you hit me on the head with a book!"

"You insulted Jasper! I had a right, and plus you were being a prick." She started slightly when she heard Harry snicker, "you let her hit you on the head with a book?"

"He insulted Jasper!" She exclaimed when Draco said, "she's an abusive bitch!"

"Oh shut up, Malfoy," she snapped as he said, "piss of, Granger."

"Blaise always stopped to take pictures!" They both cried in unison. "It's your fault."

Blaise looked unfazed. "Are you done?"

Hermione loosened her tense muscles and rolled her shoulders, stepping back from Draco. "Prat."

"Bitch."

"Annoying ferret."

"Ugly beaver."

"Prejudiced prick."

"Wanker."

"Ouch, that one hurt." She said sarcastically. "You're so immature." On that note she stepped over to the table and sat down beside Ron.

"Actually, Bloody Fuckers you have your own table." James said, his lips twitching. All three teens turned to look at him, frowning.

"What?"

"I said," James repeated, "that the Bloody Fuckers have their own table."

Harry caught on first and starting roaring with laughter, followed by Ron and then Pansy. "Your name is the Bloody Fuckers?"

"No! That's not the name we want!" Hermione protested. "Malfoy you idiot!"

Draco was scowling. "This isn't funny."

"Yes it is." Pansy laughed, caught sight of his face and tried stifling her laughter.

"What's your name?" Blaise asked Ron.

"It's Ron, dumbass." He said, chuckling. Blaise smiled slightly and he went on. "We are the," he wrinkled his nose, "the-"

"The Pansy Pickers." James said, grinning.

"What? No, we specifically said we _weren't _using that name," Harry protested as Blaise burst into a silent fit of laughter.

Sheila shrugged, "too late now." She held up two wooden rectangles, each light in color and completely blank. "You're going to paint these with the paint that is," she flicked her wand, "on your tables and you must include your team name. If you don't use the one we decided on for you, from your suggestions of course, you won't win the advantage for the next activity we're doing today. For the Bloody Fuckers, Blaise must have one hand on Hermione's and Draco the same with her other hand. You can't use paintbrushes, and must contribute to win. Only Hermione can actually paint it. Oh, and the best group will have decorated their background. You have two minutes. Have fun."

James set the two rectangles on the table and their group, now named the Bloody Fuckers, crowded around their table. "You may begin."

"Put your hand on mine," Hermione said quickly, holding out her two hands.

"No," Draco said stubbornly while Blaise complied.

"Malfoy-"

"We need the advantage, Draco." Blaise drawled, "so grow up, please."

Hermione practically glowed. Draco grudgingly placed his hand overtop of hers and she immediately went into work mode. "What color for the background? Red? Yellow? Blue? Green?"

"Green." Draco said.

"How about black, it's neutral." Hermione said, dipping her fingers into the black paint and smearing it over the smooth wood. She had half of it coated and then used her other hand in the white and smeared that over it. "It won't dry fast enough."

"The paint is quick-drying." James said in a sing song voice as he floated by. "No need to worry Ms. Granger."

"Know-it-all," Draco muttered under his breath.

"Okay, so what color for our name?" She looked at the two of them, swiveling her head between them.

"Red." Blaise finally suggested and she plunged the hand with the white paint into red bucket. She, with much disdain, wrote 'Bloody Fuckers' across the wood as best she could with her finger.

"Decorations?"

"How about a skull?" Draco said sourly. "To represent what our state will be in by the end of this."

"Honestly," she said, rolling her eyes. Using her own initiative, she put a loopy 'H', 'D', and 'B' below this writing. Then she joined them together so they were hooked around each other. Her name was in green, Draco's was in black and Blaise was in silver. She'd chosen these specifically because they were the colors they'd been given when they arr-wait a second. Draco was black. Black was a neutral color if you left out the good vs. evil thing, which wasn't actually as accurate as most people seemed to think. They all had their colors for a reason. Was Draco neutral? In the whole Voldemort thing? Something else?

She glanced at him as he stared down at their wood, more specifically at the attached letters from each of their first names. With a sigh she ignored what he was obviously thinking. "What else?"

"How about a picture of a house in flames with lightning hitting it." Blaise said boredly.

"Sure," she seized the idea and did her best at drawing something to this effect.

"Stop." Sheila said. "you can release your hands now," they did, "and wash your hands in the sink over here."

They filed over to the sink and removed the paint covering them.

"Girls, please bring your groups sign to the front." _Sign? For what?_

Hermione brought it up and handed it to Sheila, who nodded. Pansy handed hers over and James beamed. "I think the clear winners are the Pansy Pickers!"

He showed them all the rectangle. It was an array of colors, like they picked up a handful of paint and dropped it on, creating the effect of swirls where it mixed before the paint could dry immediately. 'Pansy Pickers' was written in fancy handwriting across it. There were small blobs of peach color, which Hermione realized were faces.

The first one had a mop of black paint on it, spiking upward. There were two emerald green dots in the middle. It was mini Harry. The second one had long blonde hair and two splotches of a mixture of blue and grey. The third had a red splash of paint and two light blue eyes.

On top of that, there was a realistic picture of a Pansy on each corner.

"Wow," she said lamely, looking back at theirs.

Sheila nodded. "Yes, the Pansy Pickers win. Here," she thrust both paintings back at the girls. "These are to go behind the chair in your honesty boxes."

"Wonderful," Hermione said dryly. Now the whole world could call her a Bloody Fucker and not be lying. She sat down back at their table, looking displeased. "You do this on purpose."

"We do." James said, his smiled firmly in place. "Now, our next little challenge is a muggle originating game. Truth or Dare."

Hermione groaned out loud and dropped her head to her hands. How many times this summer was she going to have to play this stupid game?

"The Pansy Pickers have three passes without losing, while the Bloody Fuckers must either answer, do the dare or the person who was asked is out. For each dare or truth you don't follow through, the other team gets a one minute head start. There's a lie detector spell up, so if you lie you're also out. Got it?"

"Yes." Blaise said, frowning.

"Good. Pansy Pickers, it's your turn first."

"Okay," Pansy said brightly, her eyes sweeping the group. "Draco, truth or dare?"

"Dare." He said, meeting her eyes.

"Kiss Weasley."

"What?" Both males turned to stare at her, eyes wide.

"Malfoy we need to win! Just do it!" Hermione said loudly, to be heard over his protesting. "Do you want to lose?"

"No." He sat there, staring at Ron, an incredulous look on his face.

"Draco," Blaise said slowly, "just do it really quick. It will be over before you know it."

There was a tense pause and then he stood, slowly walking over to Ron. The red-head's mouth opened as his chair was turned around to face Draco. "Just what do you think you're doi-" Draco's lips crushed his and then, as quickly as they had touched he pulled back, wiping his mouth roughly on his sleeve.

"Wha?" Ron was gaping at him, obviously not believing what had just happened.

"Savor it Weasley, those are the purest lips that will ever touch _you_." He said stiffly, walking slowly back to his table.

"Harry," Hermione said as Sheila nodded at their table. "Are you attracted to Ginny Weasley?"

He scowled. He knew that she knew he would never admit the answer was yes, but if he lied then he would lose for their team. He could back out, but their team would still lose a point. If he said yes…well he had a lot of time with Ron in the car. And then he smirked. "Pass."

Hermione looked unfazed, _good_. "You two." She leaned into the center of the table. "Ask them questions you know they won't answer or do really outrageous dares so they lose all their chances to pass." The other two smirked.

"Hermione," Ron said, "truth or dare?"

She didn't hesitate, "dare."

"Sit on Malfoy's lap for the whole game." He smiled at her, under the impression she wouldn't do it.

"Fine." She stood up and moved over to Draco, daring him to protest. He glared back but said nothing. With a reluctant sigh she sat down on his lap, positioning herself so one of her arms was around his neck and she wasn't likely to fall off. He instinctively moved an arm to her waist and held her gingerly, very uncomfortable with their position.

"Potter," Blaise said, "truth or dare?"

"Truth." Harry said, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"What is the deal with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Harry tensed, "pass."

Blaise smirked as Ron turned to him, "truth or dare?"

"Truth." He answered.

"Do you fancy someone in this room?"

"No." He answered, shooting back the same question. "Do _you_ fancy someone in this room?"

"Pass," Ron shot back, nudging Harry.

"Malfoy, truth or dare?" The raven haired boy asked.

"Dare."

"Kiss Hermione." Harry said, smirking, "for eleven seconds."

"What is with your group and me kissing people?" Draco snarled, "are you too stupid to think up anything else?"

"Are you going to do it?" Ron asked, looking torn between being smug and horrified.

Draco growled and turned to Hermione, leaning forward. With yet another resigned sigh she set about kissing Draco Malfoy for eleven seconds.

-

-

"Truth or dare?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Truth." He said, glancing over at his two teammates. They nodded encouragement, Ron with his thumbs up. Hermione and Harry were the only ones left in the game, but Hermione was still sitting on Draco because the game wasn't over yet.

"Have you ever questioned your sexuality?" She smiled at him innocently.

"Yes, but everyone has wondered if there's a chance they might be gay." He said, justifying this. God knew the world didn't need another thing to gossip with about him. "It doesn't mean you are. I can honestly say, I am every bit heterosexual. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she said as he felt Draco shift beneath her.

"Who is the most embarrassing person you've ever fancied?"

She frowned, she'd told him that in confidence! "Malfoy, but it was in our third year anyway. Every female student alive in Hogwarts has liked him," she directed her next comment to him, "and mention this again and you'll be in serious pain. Now truth or dare?"

"Truth." Harry said, the gleam in her eye stated that whichever he chose he was pretty much doomed.

"Hmm." Deciding she wanted to end this quick, she blurted out a question she knew he would never answer. "What happened between you and Voldemort last year?"

She instantly regretted this as he stiffened and every line in his face went hard. His eyes showed the betrayal he felt as he stared at her. "Are you serious?"

"I-erm…No…Yes?" She said, feeling guilt swell inside her. It wasn't fair at all to take advantage of him like that.

"Then I forfeit." He said frostily, "congratulations."

"Harry, I'm sorry," she slid off Draco, feeling strange after having been in contact with him for about an hour. "I didn't mean to ask you that."

He looked at her coldly, very offended, and didn't say anything.

"Well then, that was an enrapturing game." Sheila said, a smile on her face again. "Bloody Fuckers, you win so you get a ten minute head start. We ordered in dinner for you and it should arrive soon. Once you've got it, Bloody Fuckers you can leave. Eat in the car. Pansy Pickers please stay behind so we can talk to your group quickly."

"Okay," she said softly, and they strode to the front door. Before she left the Pansy Pickers she turned around to say goodbye, only to find all three turned away from the door.

-

-

They waited outside until a truck pulled into the parking lot and a man jumped out. He carried over a white bag, which she noted both males looked at warily, and stopped when he saw her.

"This for you?"

"Yeah." She said, accepting the offering and handing over money Sheila had given her.

"Hey, you're _fine,_ bitch." The man said, looking her up and down.

"Excuse me?"

"How much does a Polar Bear weigh?" He tried something else, since his first 'compliment' didn't do much.

"Oh please," she said, waving him off.

"Wait!" He called after her as they walked towards the car. "You know, beautiful, that shirt is very becoming on you. Of course, if I was on you I'm sure I'd be cumming too."

She thrust the bag at Blaise and turned around. "If you _ever _speak to me again in that way, I will-"

He began talking again, "maybe we should go back to my place."

"She said get lost," Draco had turned around and sent a chilling glare at the man. "If you don't, we might have to do something about it."

He stopped in his tracks, "right. Sorry I didn't mean no harm."

"I will if you don't back off." Draco threatened, looking him up and down and gave the impression he was sizing him up. Within the minute the man was gone and driving away.

"Thanks." She said, trying to stop shaking.

"Mhmm." Draco opened the door and she climbed into the front, glad to find she had some support to keep from falling down. Blaise got in the back and Draco took the wheel. "That was a pretty Slytherin thing you did to Potter."

"I really didn't mean to." She said, "it sort of slipped out."

Blaise shrugged, "I'm not complaining. What did they order?"

Her guilt over Harry slipped from her mind as they drove away, talking amiably (yet in a cautious and not very familiar way, over neutral things) and eating Chinese food.

She laughed as Blaise mentioned the look on Ron's face when Draco had kissed him. She caught Draco looking at her as she swiveled to the front and flushed, looking out the window. "Thanks again. For back there."

"Your welcome." He replied, accepting a drink from Blaise. "Oh, and I really do like Doritos. I ate them all."

She laughed.

**Author's Note: Let's make this quick, I've got to get ready for a family thing. There are three things I would be forever grateful if you did.**

**Firstly, if you reviewed.**

**Secondly, you go to my profile and vote in the poll at the top.**

**Thirdly, you scroll down to my listed stories, click on The Three Stages of Love and read the first part. Then review, which kind of makes four.**

**So review review review! **


	13. Animal Inside

Author's Note: I have lost my book that has a bunch of planned notes for this story in it

**Author's Note: I have lost my book that has a bunch of planned notes for this story in it. How annoying. I'm just going to have to go wild. –Grins evilly-**

**Thanks to my beta, Max Ride Fan 13! This is our first chapter together!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own it. And the animal thing is Vitalya Belle's idea. So technically, I don't really own anything. Except my dignity! puffs out chest**

When Hermione awoke, she found Blaise swearing colorfully about tigers. She assumed she was dreaming and this was pretty much confirmed when she looked into the back and saw a white tiger spread regally out the seat.

She pinched herself. "Ouch."

Blaise looked at her. "Shit."

She looked back at him. "What?"

He looked at the tiger. "That's Draco."

She looked at the tiger. And laughed. When she was done she looked back at Blaise, who didn't show any signs of amusement. "Oh my god."

"There was a note on the steering wheel this morning. I woke up to find the tiger sitting on the front seat, so I had to get it to move."

_To: Bloody Fuckers_

_Draco is now a tiger. Good luck dealing with him until tomorrow morning._

_Oh, he might be hungry._

_Sheila and James_

"Oh Merlin." She sighed and looked over at Draco, who could not have been a full grown tiger but still covered the entire seat.

"What do tigers eat?" Blaise looked at her hopefully and Draco snarled, causing them both to cringe away.

"I don't know." She said honestly. "Meat? They're carnivores."

"A tiger! Of all things." Blaise groaned and turned the car on. "I wonder how the other group is doing."

-

-

Harry was woken by a high pitched shriek and jolted awake. In one swift moment he'd whipped out his wand in front of him, jumped to stand up, hit his head on the ceiling and crash down into the space between the two front seats.

"What the hell?" He exclaimed loudly, struggling to get his limbs under control so he could stand up.

"Potter," Pansy said, breathing heavily. "Ronald is a dog!"

"Is that the only thing you can come up with? It was pathetic." He said, rolling his eyes. "You do realize I was sleeping? And why is no one driving?"

"No, he's a dog." She gestured wildly as he stood up as best he could in the car, and saw a Golden Retriever puppy sitting on the back seat, waving its tail excitedly.

"Ron?" He said and the dog barked, jumped off the seat and growled at Pansy.

"Stupid animal." She looked down at him in disgust. "They left us a note."

_To: The Pansy Pickers_

_It is with our utmost delight that we inform you that your friend Ronald is now a dog. Good luck!_

_Sheila and James_

"This is unbelievable." Pansy said, annoyed. "They turned Weasley into a _dog_!"

"Ron," Harry began tentatively. "Can you understand me? Er, bark if yes."

Ron let out a loud bark.

"Do you want anything?"

Ron was silent.

"If you need something, bark."

Ron stared up at him with blue eyes, the only sign that this was, indeed, their friend.

Harry turned to Pansy, who was watching his sullenly. "Do you want to drive?"

"No," she said rudely.

"Fine." He moved up to the front and started up the engine, wondering how far behind they were.

"I'm going to go watch in the others, this dog is creeping me out." Pansy had brought her Wcube, she'd suspected it would be good to keep an eye on the others. Of course, she hadn't known who the others would be. The House of Hell had been given its own channel because of its massive success, so during the day they played episodes from earlier days.

"Why?"

"He's staring at me." She moved to their room, the one that held the confession box but had enough room for the projection to fit in easily.

Harry laughed and drove in silence, wondering how Hermione was doing. The only reason he knew she was even still alive was their Wcube, but he suspected that if they annoyed her enough she could probably do both of her companions in easily.

This wasn't how he'd imagined his summer. True, spending the time with the Dursleys would probably have been nearly as bad, but the fact that they were constantly on camera killed any opportunity this was to get away from them. He'd imagined that Ron would invite him to the Burrow, he would go there at the beginning of August, and the time there would make the first month and week a bit better. And he'd also get to see Ginny…

A shrill scream made him jump, followed by the sound of a dog barking and bounding up to the front and then a wail. "It _drooled_ on me!"

Harry could have sworn that the dog-Ron was laughing.

-

-

"This is really not funny, Malfoy. Get the hell off me." Hermione said in an annoyed voice. For the third time in an hour Draco had decided to crawl onto her, it didn't matter where she sat he had somehow gotten there. There was much exposure of his claws and he opened his mouth quite a lot, showing her his teeth.

"Do you think he can hear us?" Blaise asked, sparing a glance at Draco. "You don't think they just replaced him with a tiger, do you?"

"I don't know. I don't see how they managed this without us noticing." She frowned at the tiger, "I wish I could talk to the other group. I didn't think to bring my Wcube, did you?"

"No." He shook his head. "Neither did Draco."

"This is so annoying. I feel really isolated-ew that's disgusting!" She exclaimed as Draco opened his mouth and allowed some saliva to drop onto her bare calf. "Get _off_!" She pushed the half of the tiger that could get on her lap off. Draco snapped his teeth at her and she did her best not to flinch.

"Very impressive, Malfoy. If you ate me you would be arrested, not to mention how disgusting it would be." She smiled at him as he growled and moved to the back. Thankfully the cars had been enlarged inside so she could walk with only having to bend her head. The boys were all taller then her, and had to crouch down a bit, though. "Blaise? Could you stop at the next place where we can shower, eat and use the loo?"

"Yeah. What do you think we should feed Draco?" He looked over at the tiger.

"I didn't ask him." She grabbed her laptop and cell phone, and then holed herself up in the confession box. She turned on her laptop and looked up. "Oh…hi. Yeah, Malfoy is a tiger. I have to say, I was expecting a ferret."

She looked around the small room in interest, waiting as her laptop loaded her settings. "You have no new messages." She read and sighed, "I was looking for something from Jacob. Wipe those incredulous looks off your faces, people. Yes, I do have a boyfriend."

Later that night, when Lavender and Parvati were watching the show, they would turn to each other. "Oh my god, she really does know everything." They would look back to the Hermione on the screen with mouths open in awe.

She looked down at her phone. "Should I call him? No? Yes? God, where are Lavender and Parvati when you need them? No, I shouldn't. If he heard Malfoy in the back…I wonder how Harry and Ron are…"

She picked up her cell phone and dialed Harry's number. If no one answered she would try Ron. "Hello?"

"Harry? Hi!" She said brightly.

"Hermione? How are you doing?" He sounded a bit tense, but she missed that in her excitement.

"Fine. Malfoy is a tiger."

"Not a ferret? How disappointing," he laughed. "Ron is a dog. More of a puppy, really."

"Aw." She smiled, "I still wish my parents hadn't agreed to this. I was so angry when I found out I was with Malfoy and Blaise."

"I know, actually. I watched your meltdown."

"How?"

"Pansy brought her Wcube."

She was startled into silence. "You know everything we've done?"

"Only what they put on the show."

"Oh."

They were both silent and Hermione remembered their last encounter with shame. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"About the last challenge… I'm really sorry. I shouldn't taken advantage of you."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have."

"I really am sorry. I'm no sure why I did it." She looked down at her jeans capri pants and smoothed down a crease.

"I was hoping that Malfoy was dead and you were channeling his spirit."

"No such luck," she said gloomily. "But what about the real Malfoy?"

"Could've been a hologram." He laughed and whatever he said next was drowned out by a 'bloody hell' and an enormous roar.

"Oh dear. Listen Harry I have to go, I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Sure." They both hung up and she looked over to the wall in front of her. "Malfoy, always the drama queen."

She moved to the door and called out through it." Blaise, if you are alive tell me now!"

"I'm alive. Malfoy just threw a temper tantrum."

She opened the door and slipped out. "Malfoy do you want something?" She looked at the irritated tiger. "Give me some sort of sign-not a roar!-that you can understand me."

It blinked at her.

"Malfoy," she said in exasperation. "I didn't know it was possible to make any more stupid. Now I know-just turn you into an animal. I need a sign."

It merely blinked at her and she rolled her eyes at Blaise. "A sign, Malfoy. I need a-"

She was interrupted as he roared, blinking rapidly. "Oh. The sign in a blink? Okay, erm, blink for yes."

He blinked.

"You want something?"

Blink.

"Food?"

Blink.

"We'll get it when we can. What do you want, erm, raw meat?"

Blink.

"Ew. Okay, do you want something else?"

Blink.

"Water?"

No blink.

"Erm…sleep?"

No blink.

"Do you want to be let outside?"

Blink.

"Okay, so…Blaise?"

"Yeah, I'll pull over. It's lucky no one lives around here."

Hermione opened the door to the car and Draco bounded of it in a flash of white and black. She didn't have time to ask if he would come back before he was across the field and into the thin forest. "He'd better not hold us up too much, the other group only has a dog."

She didn't, of course, know that they were having pretty big problems of their own.

-

-

"Ugh! It peed on me!" Pansy was screaming outside their car. Harry had pulled over as she had begun to cry, whether from anger or humiliation he didn't know, and they'd been there for seven whole minutes.

"Calm down Parkinson. Just change your pants." Harry snapped as he watched the hysterical girl.

"I don't care about the clothes! I care that Ronald Weasley has peed on me!" She glared as Harry laughed. "Where is that stupid dog, anyway? I want to give him a good kick!"

"I dunno. Ron?" Harry called. There was no dog in sight. "Uh oh."

Pansy let out a terrific screech that reverberated in the air.

-

-

"Why did your parents want you on the show?" Hermione asked Blaise as they leaned on their car, waiting for Draco to return.

"I can't imagine why anyone's parents would. Have you spoken to yours?"

"Sort of." She replied, "I suppose Sheila and James turned on the charm. I really hope they don't watch it, that would be embarrassing. Do you want yours to?"

"How _could _your parents watch it, it's a wizarding station." He asked and he shrugged.

"I think it was installed, I'm not sure." She didn't have time to ask why he had avoided answering her questions when she heard a scream. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah… It sounded like… no, it couldn't be."

"What?" She asked, looking intently at him.

"It sounded like Pansy."

"You don't think they could be around here?" She looked around wildly, wondering if Harry, Ron and Pansy were just through the small forest. Before she could ponder this anymore Draco pranced out of the trees and across the field, holding a bloody carcass of an animal. She felt nauseated as he drew near, but her blood ran cold as she saw the general shape of the animal was a dog. Or a wolf cub. Something small in a dog like form.

What if the other group _was _just across the forest and Draco had snatched up Ron? What if he was _eating_ Ron right now in front of her? She hastily dialed Harry's number on her cell phone with shaking hands.

"Harry?"

"Hermione? Hi."

"Harry what does Ron look like as a dog? Is he with you right now?"

"Hermione what-"

"_What does he looks like?_"

"He's a Golden Lab, I think. No, he's not with us."

She gasped, it might be him! The animal's fur was indistinguishable now. "Oh no oh no oh no-"

"-oh wait now I see him. He just came through some trees."

Hermione nearly cried, her relief was so overpowering. "Oh thank Merlin. Bye, Harry!"

"Hermione what's wron-Pansy don't do th-"

Blaise was watching her, amused as she leaned back on the car with a hand over he heart, taking deep breaths. "You thought Draco was eating Weasley?"

She didn't answer, thinking of the last time she'd been so scared.

-

"_Harry? Harry!" She screamed, coughing as smoke was inhaled through her lungs. "Harry?"_

_A hand grabbed her arm and she shrieked, her voice lost amid the screams echoing through the cave. She shook the arm off and whipped her wand around, nearly crying as she met Harry's eyes. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, trying to fight their way through the crowd of black cloaks and smoke. She tried to be grateful for the smoke, if it weren't there they would be in plain view of the numerous Death Eaters around them._

"_Where's Ron?" He shouted to be heard and dread pooled in her stomach._

"_He's not with you?"_

"_No." They both looked at each other in intense horror and ducked as a flash of red light flew towards them. _

"_Ron!" She shrieked desperately. "Ron where are you? Ron!"_

_She whirled around, Harry's hand slipped from hers as she frantically searched for her red headed best friend. "Ron!"_

_Harry's voice joined hers and then let out a shout. "Ron?" She whirled around in time to see a red head in a black cloak fall to the ground, from a green flash of light. _

"_Oh my god!" She screamed and stumbled forward. Harry darted through the crowd and they fell to the ground, the confusion and magic around them lost as they fell beside the lifeless figure. "No!" She cried, shaking as Harry stared in horror, tears pooling in green eyes. _

"_Harry? Hermione? What are you doing we have to go!" Hermione whirled around and screamed. Ronald Weasley stood behind her, covered in soot and barely recognizable because of the dirt in his hair. They scrambled to their feet as shock coursed through her body. Ron was alive? Who was on the ground? _

_It didn't matter. It wasn't Ron. _

-

"Granger?" Blaise was waving a hand in front of her face and she started. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She felt tears on her cheeks. "I'm fine."

"You thought that Draco ate Ron."

"Yes." She answered even though it hadn't been a question. "I was so scared."

"I noticed," he said wryly. "Do you really think they're that close?"

"I don't know." She wiped her sleeve across her face. "Harry said Ron came out of a some trees," she gestured across the field to the forest, "you heard a scream that sounded like Pansy and we would be able to hear them if they were through it."

"That means we have to hurry if we want the advantage, which we do. The most we can stop for now is a trip to the loo and some food." He looked quite glum as he said this and she resisted the urge to snap at him.

"Right. We should go now, then."

Draco had finished ripping apart his food and was strolling towards them. She had the intense urge to hex him for causing her so much fear, but instead just opened the car door and closed it behind him.

"I really thought it was Ron." She told the confession box. "I was so scared. I thought I had lost him. It was irrational, really. We don't know if they're even on the other side of the forest. I feel stupid now, of course."

She laughed and left the room in a better mood then she'd been in for awhile. "If Malfoy had really eaten him I would have screwed the show and done the worst thing I could with my wand." She smiled evilly, her eyes narrowed and cold and her mouth curved into a smirk.

A few viewers shivered.

"Why are you and Malfoy friends, anyway?" She asked and sat down beside him in the front.

"Why wouldn't we be?"

"How can you still be friends with him if he's an arrogant little-"

"Do not finish that sentence." Blaise said in a low voice. "Draco is my best friend and you would do well not to insult him in my presence."

"Really?" She asked skeptically. "He's your best friend? So are you overjoyed to live with him this summer too?"

"I would have anyway." Blaise said harshly. "My parents disowned me last year before Christmas and Draco offered me a room in Malfoy Manor. That is my home now. The only things I have are the things I had before and enough money to get me through school and started in the world, a parting gift from my mother because she couldn't bear to let her only child die no matter what kind of horrible thing he inflicted upon himself." He spat the last few words out quite bitterly.

"That's horrible…" She whispered and didn't have the heart to ask him why.

"That's life." He snapped and pulled into a parking lot. "We'll eat here. And make it fast."

They used the bathrooms in the small coffee shop and ate a quick lunch. Within ten minutes they were leaving, with Hermione driving, Blaise sitting up near the front and Draco curled up in the back. She drove in silence for awhile, but found it a bit tense and began small talk about neutral things that wouldn't lead to dangerous territory.

He moved to the confession box for awhile, and Hermione watched as the forests transformed into rolling hills, then farms and began to become urban. She honked her horn in annoyance when a car cut her off to turn left at an intersection, and turned right to the other way.

She wouldn't figure out it had been The Pansy Picker's car until after the show was over, and that they had both driven in opposite directions to reach the same destination. She might have found this metaphorical, but was more concerned with her cell phone ringing and answering it without hitting the five year old going crazy on her tri-cycle while her annoyed mother chased her down the street.

"Hello?"

"Hi Hermione." Her heart skipped a beat and sped up.

"Hi Jacob. It's so good to hear from you." She grinned widely and steered the car with her other hand. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, I miss you already." He removed the phone from his mouth and called something to someone near him.

"What?"

"Oh," he laughed, "Nothing. What's doing on with you?"

She glanced back at Draco and he snapped his teeth at her. "Oh nothing really, I'm just driving."

"Where are you?"

She laughed, "I don't know."

"Lost already? Not a great start." He laughed and she blushed pleasantly.

"I may have been a bit sidetracked." She said, glancing again at Draco and thinking about all they'd had to do.

"Really? What were you thinking about?" He sounded flirtatious and she realized with embarrassment he thought he meant by him.

"The only thing that's really been occupying my mind lately." She said evasively, hoping he thought she was trying be mysterious and would drop it.

"Really?" He said and she could practically _hear_ his smile, which made her yearn to see it. "I'm honored."

"What are you up to today?" She swiftly changed the topic.

"Nothing much. Andrea's got a bunch of friends over and I'm trying to work, which is nearly impossible with the racket they're making." He said and she heard someone talking in the background.

"Who's that?"

"Some girl named…erm, Michelle?" Hermione heard a girl raise her voice, "It's Lucy!"

"Oh, yeah. It's Lucy."

"Cool." She said, "What are you working on?"

"Managing and financial stuff." He said dismissively. "What are _you _working on?"\

"Driving."

"Ah. Very difficult, isn't it?"

"Not really." She smiled and then her eyes widened as Draco opened his mouth. "No," she hissed at him. If tigers could smirk, he would definitely be smirking. "No!"

"Hermione?"

Draco was opening his large mouth again and was going to let rip a magnificent roar. "Look I'm really sorry Jacob, but I've got to go. One of my roommates is having a tantrum!" She'd already turned off the phone before the last few sentences and closed her eyes as Draco let loose a roar.

"Malfoy! Do you _want _to be discovered?" She snapped at him jerking to the right as she inched over the yellow line in the middle of the road. He moved off the couch and moved towards her and settled with resting his head on her arm. She softened immediately. "You're much nicer as an animal."

Absently she stroked his soft fur, she imagined was quite like his silky blonde locks of hair. Maybe it was even softer as it normally was, maybe when he was sleeping she should stoke it. Just once of course, stroking Malfoy's hair would be… She jolted out of her thoughts and removed her hand from the tiger's fur. Oh dear. She was so tired she was now thinking about _touching Draco's hair_. It was quite disturbing, really. No matter how soft it was. Is. Could be.

"I will never do it." She told herself out loud. "No."

With one last glance at Draco, who was watching her with those amazing silvery depths of eyes, she focused on driving and _not _on the young man who was her rival. Sort of.

-

-

Before she knew it, it was night and they were driving in the dark. The snacks she had bought them the other night had sustained both her and Blaise, but they had to make a short stop for Draco to eat something (they figured whatever he could scrounge up in the wilderness with whatever hunting skills he possessed would be better then what they would find).

"Hermione, do you want me to take over?" Blaise sat down in the front and looked over at her.

"No, no I've got it. It's only nine o'clock." She said and smiled at him.

"Sure." He sat back and stared out the front of the window.

"So…" She began awkwardly. "The confession box is actually pretty useful, huh?"

"Yeah." He smiled a bit. "Good to get out feelings but bad because the rest of the world gets to hear it, too."

"Yeah…" She sighed and looked at the lights she could see in the distance. "I talked to Harry today."

"That's great."

"He said they're doing pretty well. Pansy brought that stupid Wcube-"

He shot her an amused glance. "It wasn't stupid when Dumbledore gave them to us. What did you say again? 'Even if the Ministry supplied them, it should be an honor because Dumbledore approves? Oh, and we should consider ourselves lucky that we have some sort of alternative entertainment other then being arrogant pricks?'"

"That was before they stuck us on this." She said miserably, that had been exactly what she'd said. "I don't see why out of everyone who would have loved to be on this show, they chose the six people who would hate it."

"I can answer that." Blaise said easily. "I thought it was obvious. Because we hate it we'll create the most chaos. They're hoping we'll fight, and that there will be some sort of romance between the members. Specifically you and Draco, which everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten is really far-fetched. Obviously because none of us _want _to be on it, it gives appeal. Hence, The House of Hell. Makes sense, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think you're next? Or me?" Blaise asked her and she looked at him in confusion. He jerked his head back at Draco and understanding dawned on her.

"Oh, I don't know. Honestly, I'd rather not do it at all." She didn't look at him as she continued. "If I was a animal, you and Malfoy could do whatever you wanted with me."

"We wouldn't." Blaise said calmly. "You'd be surprised how much influence I could have in Draco's life if I wanted."

"Hmm. Enough to make him not be a Death Eater?" She looked over and regretted the question as his face closed off.

"Why are you asking me this on a national show?" He hissed, though the cameras no doubt caught it.

"It slipped out." She snapped back defensively. "Sorry."

"Right." He said sarcastically and they were silent again.

"Does he have the same influence in your life?"

"Probably me. He doesn't really exercise it." Blaise said softly. "Again, you'd be surprised."

"I am. I thought part of being a Malfoy was seizing power and losing control." She said and again regretted saying something mean about Draco.

"Really?" Blaise snapped angrily. "Did you ever think that part of being a Granger was being muggle? No magic? It seems you're the first of your entire family."

She was struck dumb for a minute and then forced out an apology. "I'm sorry. He's your friend but he's…he's also my enemy."

"So was I." Blaise retorted, "You don't insult me all the time."

"_You _never did anything."

"How do you know? You think I told all the Slytherins to cut it out when they made fun of Gryffindors? Do you think I told them to shut up when they all called you a mudblood and insulted Potter? Do you think I never once said anything bad against you?"

"Not to me…" She said quietly, feeling wounded.

"So if Draco never insulted you, you'd try and be friends with him? Look, Granger," the bite in his voice made her eyes swell with tears. "If you can't get along with Draco or at least _try_ then there is no way I can even talk to you. I haven't insulted Potter or Weasley yet, so will you grow up?"

She slammed on the brake and opened the door furiously as hot tears filled her eyes. "I'm going to bed. I don't care whether or not you drive, but do not speak to me again tonight."

She went around to the back and pushed Draco, trying to get him off the seat. "Get off the goddamn seat!" She said sharply and he growled at her, but complied. Snatching up a blanket from her bag and a pillow, she curled up on the seat and tried to fall asleep. It wasn't until her eyes had dried and her heart had calmed that she began to drift off.

It seemed that no matter what, she just couldn't win with these two. Any progress she could make with Blaise was set back by Draco, even if he himself didn't do anything and she couldn't even make progress with Draco.

This show was turning out to be the worst thing that had probably ever entered Sheila and James's minds. She was so sick of not seeing her parents, Jacob, Andrea, Ginny, Harry, Ron…everyone. She smiled faintly as she thought of Jacob, wondering what his lips would feel like on hers. Soft and warm. He probably kissed gently. Unless things got passionate, but she was definitely not ready to think about doing anything too passionate with him now.

Something was under her hand. It was soft and warm, and she smiled. "Malfoy, I definitely like you better as a tiger."

She drifted so sleep with a smile, thinking about Draco's hair.

**Author's Note: There we go. The end is sort of weird and abrupt, sorry about that, but I couldn't think of any way to end it and it would've just gone on and on. This will be the last update until exams are over, they start next Thursday. I apologize, but I've been working hard to finish this chapter and not leave you high and dry.**

**Hmm. What else? Well…I have a new three part story up if you're interested. It's slash, so if you don't like that sort of thing steer clear of it! LOL. Um… yeah. I can't think of anything else to say.**

**Oh! Who do you want to be next, Blaise or Hermione / and Harry or Pansy? I'd love to know! If there's any specific reason, let me know! Plus, any ideas you've got I'd love to hear. **

**Oh, and I REALLY want to know if you would be interested in an interlude chapter somewhere in here about how the viewers respond to it, and stuff like that. I was thinking about doing one (probably not around now, of course) and even if you don't say you want me to, I'd probably do it anyway. XD. So if you do, please tell me so I know people are interested. It always helps!**

**Review review review!**


	14. They Lost

**Author's Note: I'll save you the excuses and get on with writing this chapter. I never truly understood why authors could be out for weeks before and after exams. I can now.**

**Okay, so I'm sure everyone knows this but I'm going to say it anyway. Hermione is 17 when she is in her 6****th**** year, while Harry and Ron are both 16. Ron turns 17 during the year, but then Hermione turns 18 in the same year. Do you get what I mean? Her birthday is in September, after the first year of Hogwarts would have started, so she had to wait for the next year. They get their letters on their eleventh birthday, and her eleventh birthday was after the start of term in September. Therefore she had to wait until the next year. Yeah? If not, please feel free to ask me to explain it better. **

**Thanks to my amazing beta, Nikki!**

**Disclaimer: Do not own it.**

She'd been expecting it, really, she had. After finding a white tiger in the place of Draco, it shouldn't have been all that surprising. But still, it didn't dull the shock and fascination she felt as she stared at an elegant eagle perched in front of her.

"Blaise?" She finally whispered.

The bird hopped slightly from his position on the back of the passenger's seat.

"No, Granger, its my pet bird. I thought you knew about that." Draco said sarcastically and she jumped.

"You know, Malfoy, the best thing about you as an animal was that you couldn't talk." She said, though it lacked her usual conviction. Even though it had only been four days, five including today, she felt tired, dirty and hungry for some real food, and not the stuff they had picked up at odd places.

"I thought it was stroking me." Draco responded coolly, and she blushed at the double entendre.

It had been rather awkward in the morning when they woke up to eagle-Blaise's sharp cry. Draco had been kneeling beside the seat, his head resting on his hands. One of Hermione's hands had been weaved through his hair and when she pulled it away he let out a loud cry of pain.

"You were a soft tiger." She retorted and nearly sighed. It sounded quite pathetic.

"Thanks." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "We should get to driving."

"Do you want t-"

"No." He slouched to the seat beside the driver's and sat down.

"Fine." She said and took up the wheel. As they pulled out of the parking lot they were in, and she had no idea how they'd gotten there, Blaise hopped onto Draco's shoulder. "He makes a lovely eagle."

"Mm." Draco said boredly and turned to look out the window.

"I still want to know how they're doing this." She turned to look at him and he paled a bit when he noticed she wasn't looking at the road.

"How should I know?"

"I thought you might, since you've been an animal before." She said calmly and turned back to the front, much to Draco's relief. "Why are you so afraid of driving?"

"I'm not afraid of driving." He snapped. "I just don't like it when other people drive for me. Especially when they're unstable." He gave her a significant look. "Now that I think about it, its mostly you."

"But why is it so frightening?" She pressed, discarding the unstable comment.

"Think about it, Granger. We're practically in a big metal death trap. You can't jump off it, or move it, or make it change direction in a second. If you're going to crash, you can't really help it without going out of control."

"Would you drive a motorcycle, then? They seem more dangerous then cars to me." She asked, finding it immensely interesting that he would fly hundreds of feet in the air on a broomstick but was uncomfortable with the thought of someone else driving him somewhere.

"I like motorcycles, I have one at the Manor." He said nonchalantly and she snorted with laughter.

"_You _have a motorcycle?" She looked at his slim body, his haughty expression and perfectly manicured nails.

He looked indignant and opened his mouth to speak. "Yes, I do."

She nodded, pursing her lips together to keep from laughing. It really wasn't all that funny, but she was tired and the thought of Draco Malfoy driving, much less owning, a motorcycle was immensely amusing.

"_What_?" He asked, exasperated.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, "But _you_."

"Yes, me. I even have leather pants and a jacket." He said and she gaped at him, looking away from the road. "Sarcasm, Granger."

She chuckled and smiled at the road rather then reply. They both looked out their respective windows as houses flew by and the rest of the morning passes this way. They let Blaise fly above the car for awhile when they finally reached the edge of the large city they'd been driving through. As it turned out, and completely unsurprisingly, Blaise was a lot less trouble then Draco.

They stopped to buy sandwiches for lunch and as Hermione sipped her drink she watched Draco. "What was it like?"

"I'm assuming you are referring to being an animal?" He asked calmly, inspecting the drink in his plastic cup.

"Yes." She looked at him eagerly, it sounded as though he was going to answer seriously.

"Its strange, really." He said slowly. "Everything was louder, and I didn't see in color. I could smell emotions. At one point you were in a completely state of panic. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to adapt to hunting, though. It was simple."

"I'll remember that, then." She smiled unwillingly. "Could you understand our English?"

"Yeah." His brow furrowed. "I acted on impulse though. All the time. I didn't think about what I should or shouldn't do, or the consequences of my actions."

"Why is being impulsive wrong?"

He chuckled lightly and she got goose bumps from the sound. "You say that like you actually mean it."

"I do." She said, somewhat defensively. "What's wrong with being slightly responsive?"

"What's wrong with thinking about things before you do them?" He challenged, sounding slightly amused, as though she was some juvenile child who understood nothing.

"So you think everything over, then?" Hermione asked and took a gulp of her drink.

"No, it depends on who I'm with." He said and glanced over at her. "For the most part, I don't with you."

"You don't think when you're with me? The fact that you can think is a mystery to me, really." She said and smiled smugly. "Why?"

"I have to lower myself to your level of intelligence." He said with a sarcastic edge in his voice.

"It's a mark of yours that you misjudged which direction you're supposed to go to reach my intelligence."

"I think you have less direction then me." He replied.

"Why is that?"

"You just missed the turn."

"Oh sh-" Instinctively she slammed on the break and there was a loud screech, followed by a honking horn and the sound of metal on metal. She was thrown forward in the seat and heard a loud bang as Draco's head hit the window and the glass broke.

"Grangeeer!" Draco shouted as they spun forward and Blaise let out shrieks of protest.

Hermione screamed as the car flipped suddenly and it took one second full of absolute terror to realize they had just flipped off the side of what could possibly be a steep hill.

She couldn't measure the amount of time that passed, or when the sharp pain hit her. But she could hear their own screams until the entire vehicle came to an abrupt halt and intense pain pierced her side, joining that in her arm.

She couldn't hear Blaise anymore, only Draco swearing loudly and profusely before he cut off and took in a sharp breath. "Granger?"

Someone was shaking her and she let out a choked shriek. It hurt so much.

"Grang- Oh sweet Merlin you're joking." The shaking stopped abruptly and she heard a soft gasp. "Oh my God."

There was a bellow in the midst of the noise, coming from outside. For some reason this was a source of annoyance, she was_ trying_ to sleep. The edges of her vision were darkening. She heard the sound of a door opening and thought that perhaps she ought to get out of the car. It didn't hurt so much now.

"How many are in here?" A gruff voice.

"Two." That was Draco, sounding quite panicked.

"How hurt ar-oh God. You're _head_."

"She's worse, help her first!"

"Calm down, man. Stop moving!"

It felt like she was sinking into a thick, dark substance. Molasses, maybe? It was so dark.

Shouts.

Sirens.

Voices.

Blaise.

Where was Blaise?

And Draco?

She let out a low moan and shifted slightly causing her entire body to catch fire. Or so it felt, anyway.

"Everyone _move_! Paramedics!"

A murmured voice.

"I'm _fine_. Help her, she's worse!"

"We'll get her, just calm down."

"Look, she's in much wor-"

She succumbed to the darkness and let it overwhelm her.

-

-

"Calm _down,_ Parkinson." Ron said for the umpteenth time as she jumped and let out a squeak.

"How are you not _uneasy_, at the very least?" She whispered, her eyes darting between Ron and the lion in the back. "He could _eat_ us!"

"Harry won't eat us." Ron said firmly.

"What about when we're sleeping. He hates Slytherins, he might try to kill me." She muttered, eyes wide as Harry opened his large jaws and yawned.

Ron rolled his eyes as Pansy let out a shrill scream. "Calm _down_! I don't know how you've met it this far alive, you start at the littlest thing!"

"Shut up, Weasley." She snapped and let out a large puff of air. Harry stood up and lumbered to the front and she practically dived over the side of the seat and into the back. "I'll be gone!"

She dashed into the confession box and slammed the door tightly behind her, breathing heavily. She sat down on the chair in the middle of the room and turned to look at the Wcube screen.

What she saw made her feel like she was going to faint.

"Weasley! Weasley! _WEASLEY_! Come here _now_! Their _car_! They're going to-to _die_!"" She yelled and gripped the edges of the chair. The car stopped and Ron came to the room, no where near as quickly as she would have liked.

He froze and then lunged forward. "Oh my _God_."

They stared at the screen for a long time, watching the screen hungrily as they waited to find out how their friends were.

-

-

"Miss Granger, can you hear me?"

Her eyes flickered open and immediately closed as a brilliant light shone into them. The pain that had been coursing through her body had now dulled to a low buzz, and she felt quite sleepy.

"Good, you're awake. You have a broken wrist and a dislocated shoulder. A large piece of glass was imbedded in your upper right hip. All these injuries were on your right side, the driver's side. You have no internal damage other then the breaks, and your head is fine, save a few bumps and bruises. You have a cast on your arm and it's in a sling, and you've already had your side taken care of. We've put stitches in and wrapped it. Any questions?"

She shook her head with great difficulty, trying to pretend she'd taken all that information in.

"Excellent. I know this is overwhelming so soon after the accident, but I need you to answer a few questions. What's your name?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Your age?"

"Seventeen."

"Birth date?"

"September 19th."

"And the names of your parents?"

"Chris and Jane."

"Good." She heard a pen scribbling. "We don't have any medical records for you, but you did have identification in your pocket and this matches it."

_Identification. If I had died, that is how they would know it's me. _And suddenly her situation hit her. She was in a muggle hospital, their car was probably in ruins, it could have been days since she'd been brought here, James ad Sheila obviously didn't care about her situation because they hadn't come and gotten her, and she had no idea where Draco and Blaise were.

A sound of distress escaped her.

"Don't worry." The nurse assured her, mistaking the reason for the noise. "You're fine. You've only been out between five to seven hours. With a week or two of rest, you don't exert yourself and take these pills as prescribed," she gestured to several bottles on the table beside Hermione, "You'll be feeling great. You'll also need to schedule appointments with doctors and such to check your healing, but that can be figured out in due time."

"Malfoy?" She forced the word from her lips.

"The boy who was with you? Blond hair, fair skin, petit frame? He's just across this divide." She pointed to a thick curtain cutting off half the room. "He got off easy, just a head injury and a sprained wrist. We thought it was best to keep you together, because we don't know who you are and you're from out of town."

"Blaise?"

"Who?"

Her heart sank drastically. "My bird…he's a pet. An eagle."

"Sorry, darling, but they didn't find anything in the wreckage. It probably didn't make it out."

She felt the buzzing in her head crescendo and fell back into the open arms of darkness.

-

-

She next awoke to Draco's voice, whispering her name. "Granger? Come on Granger, wake up."

"Mmm?" She groaned and opened her tired eyes.

"We've got to leave. The car is in the parking lot. Do you need any medication?" He spoke urgently and she clung to the sound of his voice.

"Yeah, those." She tried to gesture with her right hand and couldn't. Instead, she used her left and made a waving motion in the direction of the table. He picked up the bottles and shoved them into the pockets of a sweater he'd picked up.

"You've got to get up."

"Blaise?" She croaked, not sure she _could _get up.

"Is fine." He took a step towards her and slowly lifted her, wincing slightly and adjusting his hands so his left wrist carried less of her body weight. "Anything else?"

"No." She murmured and he slowly crept into the hall. The halls were silent and moonlight shone through the windows, casting an eerily tranquil glow on the whitewashed walls and tiled floor.

She was drowsy, and the only thing keeping her awake was the slight throb that stabbed her right hip every time Draco stepped forward. Despite her haziness, she still felt surprise when she saw their car in perfect, gleaming condition.

She was set down in the back seat and welcomed the comfort of pillows and blankets warmly. Blaise was perched on the driver's seat, and just seeing him there was enough to make her sigh. "What happened?"

"We rolled down the side of a hill. Blaise had some sort of protective magic on him, so he didn't feel anything and managed to follow us to the hospital. They took me to some emergency room and inspected my head, put a mask on my face and the next thing I know I'm waking up and they're telling me they _stitched _my _head_. Then they were asking me all sorts of questions, which I refused to answer and told them that whatever money they wanted, my father would pay." She snorted softly. "That probably wasn't the brightest idea, but I wasn't thinking straight! Then they were whispering about my having brain damage or being delusional. They left me alone for awhile and an owl delivered a letter explaining everything.

"Our car and everything inside it is in the exact same condition and place it was left. Apparently there were charms on the car that protected it from actually being destroyed, so when we fell down the hill only the glass broke and the muggles saw an illusionary image of a destroyed car. They took the files that the muggles in the hospital had on us, and by tomorrow any trace of us will be gone."

"Oh." She said and her eyes flickered closed. "So we're okay?"

"Yeah. We're okay."

-

-

The next day was horrible.

Hermione had been turned into a cat and couldn't move, only drifted in and out of consciousness.

That aside, though, her hearing and sight was tripled, but she was color blind. There was also a magical glow about her, almost like a visible aura, and she wondered if this was the kind of protective magic that had been on Blaise.

"How are you feeling?" Blaise was asking Draco softly.

"Fine." Was the stiff reply.

"Liar." Blaise hissed and she could feel the worry on his voice. "Go lie down by Granger. I've driving anyway."

There was a long silence. "Alright."

He came back and lied down slowly and then slowly ran his fingertips over her fur, careful not to put too much pressure. She purred loudly and was eased into sleep.

-

-

She let out a large cry of pain when she next woke. Her entire body was in agony, and her first instinct was to shift, to move, but it only increased the pain beyond the border of bearable and not.

They couldn't give her pills, because that would involve finding the right dosage, grinding it into powder and somhw getting it into her. And the medication was designed for humans, not animals.

Light fingers were stroking her again and she dropped back into a fitful sleep.

-

-

"-idn't let her drive." Blaise was saying, amused.

"It was an accident." Draco was lying beside her still.

"You were very worried." Blaise stated calmly. "Freaking out and all."

When Draco spoke, it was in a measured and careful voice. "Everyone knows Granger is smart. They're always saying, 'Granger will be great. She's going to help save the world, or she's going to save lives and be a brilliant scientist, or Healer, or Auror or whatever she wants to be.' We all used to say we wanted her dead, I hate-d her. And then we're put in this house and told to just have fun. We're all in the same position. When I saw her there…that was Granger. Of everything I thought she would die of-of old age, an explosion from her own experimentation or fighting to protect people, or-or even from carrying to many books and falling and being squished or _something_. It was such an insignificant way to die.

"Think of it, Blaise. Hermione Granger, best friend of Harry Potter, smartest witch of our age, most likely to be successful, dies in a car accident because she was forced to be on a show against her will. Doesn't that seem sick?" Draco released a long puff of air. "It's pathetic. That would be like Weasley finding put he's not fertile, or Longbottom becoming the Potions professor, or Dumbledore dying from a misfired spell, or Potter falling down stairs and breaking his neck when everyone knows he has to fight-"

"Draco." Blaise cut in sharply and he stopped speaking. "I understand."

Draco nodded absently, flushing when he realized he'd just ranted about how Granger could have died insignificantly when she 'was supposed to be great.' "And I didn't know what the hell happened to you."

"It couldn't be helped." Blaise said simply.

Draco nodded and changed the subject. "When we get back, we're going flying first thing."

Blaise groaned. "I_ hate_ flying."

"No you don't." Draco told him, "You only pretend to hate flying."

"No, I really do." Blaise answered, and Hermione didn't get the chance to check and see if he was serious, before she was asleep again.

-

-

The next time she woke she lay there, staring ahead with her increased vision. Draco and Blaise were talking casually and she ended up listening to their conversation about whether or not they'd be allowed to go to Diagon Alley.

She smiled a bit and closed her eyes, letting their deep, soothing voices wash over her.

-

-

_I'm back._

She smiled and made to sit up, only to squeeze her eyes tightly and lay back down. She was back, yes, and she was also in _pain_. She tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was a raspy sort of growl. She tried again.

"Malfoy?" The word was only barely distinguishable, but she succeeded in making noise and both males turned to her.

"I suppose she needs pain medication?"

"Yeah, I've got the bottles." Draco got up and moved back to her, sitting on the very edge of the seat. "Sleep inducing…pain reducing…pain relief…numbing…"

She supposed he found the one which would be best and handed her a small, red pill and a bottle of water. She sat up slowly and Draco supported her back with his good wrist as she took the pill and then eased herself back onto the seat.

"How many days have we been gone?" She murmured, the words sliding easily from her throat after the cool water had soothed it.

"We should be reaching the meeting place, I supposed you could call it, today." Blaise replied from the front, not looking away from the road.

She nodded and smiled as the drugs began to take hold of her system.

A little while later Blaise spoke, his voice excited. "We're here."

"Really?" She gasped, sitting up and craning her head to look out the window.

They were facing the most beautiful hotel she'd ever seen. It was ten stories high and had rivets and turrets like a castle. Creamy colored bricks built up the walls and a wide, glass double door led up to by stairs that flared out marked the main entrance into the building. In tinted glass was the title, 'Queen's Palace'.

"Its beautiful." She murmured and the two males agreed.

Draco helped her up and then, when she wobbled on her legs and nearly fell, ended up carrying her bridle style. They walked briskly through the parking lot, looking around for another car like theirs and didn't find one. Did that mean they'd won the first half? Hermione didn't think that was quite possible, they'd been set back _hours_.

They hurried to the doors and Blaise reached out. The sun caught the glass and reflected the light into her eyes, and then they pulled the door open.

-

-

"Hurry_ up_!" Harry said to Pansy as she walked beside him up to the doors leading into the 'Queen's Palace'.

They looked around, searching for the other group's car and didn't see it.

The pushed open the door.

-

* * *

-

They lost.

-

* * *

-

**Author's Note: I know, Hermione's turn was probably NOT what you expected. **

**I'm SORRY! It's been what, two months? God, I'm the worst updater ever! I feel really bad, I really do. Like, seriously bad. And then I left you with a cliff hanger, because you don't know who it is who said they lost... **

**Okay, so I have to address a review from Xonthespot. And don't worry, I'm not going to freak out and yell at you and say you ruined my writing dreams.**

'ilike the story really i do but there a few things wrong: 1. Pansy's hair  
is black NOT blonde 2. Pansy's always all over Draco, ALWAYS 3. no way no how  
is Hermione is that up tight, in all the books she's been able to cut loose! ur  
Hermione is completely unrealistic!**'**

**Well thanks for your honesty, you gave me stuff to consider. Hm… 1. So Pansy's hair is black? I've always thought it was blonde. 2. I really only got the impression that Pansy was all over Draco in the third book, when she was thirteen. In the sixth book she merely seems smug that she has Draco in a possessive sense. Here, she is seventeen (because her birthday is in the year) and so to me, her childish infatuation with him is over. That's just my portrayal of her. 3. Okay then. My Hermione is completely unrealistic. There really isn't anything for me to do about that, because that's her in this fic.**

**So thanks for your opinion, I do appreciate it. **

**Hm… I've got a story recommendation for everyone.**

**Tangled Up by Hannah Longbottom**

**So it's about Hermione when she finds out Ron and Lavender are going out, and the relationship turmoil following that with Ginny/Dean/ Harry and Hermione/Ron/Lavender/Seamus. It's a really good fic so far, you should definitely check it out. XD.**

**Umm…Well I put up a new poll. Please vote. XD. **

**Um… I don't think there's anything else for me to say, except I am REALLY sorry for this lack of updating. I do feel guilty. I even feel guilty for asking you to review, because of it. So anyways, sorry x infinity!**

**Oh, and I have an new poll up, please vote!**

**Review review review!**


	15. Stupid Malfoy

Author's Note: You guys are such good readers –sighs- After reading all your reviews, I really felt compelled to get writing. Like, I got your reviews and was like, baby lets get CRACKING!

**Also, I'd like my stories to be on an interval of ten, so I had to update this again, to anyone who reads The Initiation, first. XD.**

**There was a lot of confusion about who won and who lost. Yeah, that was intentional. XD. **

**Thanks to Nikki, my AWESOME beta!**

**Disclaimer: don't own it.**

Draco let out a small growl of frustration, Blaise sighed and folded his arms across his chest and Hermione turned her eyes to the ground. Their actions were quite different, however their reason for doing so was exactly the same. Disappointment.

"Yeah, it all is very sad, isn't it?" Sheila was saying, beaming around as if she'd just won the lottery. "You're two hours later then them, so you've lost the first half. However, this just means the other team has a fifteen minute head start, you could still win the whole thing."

James nodded empathically. "Now, we were debating cleaning up Hermione and Draco first, but then we decided that for dramatic flair, you could wait a little longer!"

Hermione sighed loudly. She let her eyes leave the floor and meet Draco's. She wondered if it was possible to reveal your entire soul through your eyes. _If not_, she wondered, _what does the rest of Malfoy's look like?_ _It really is not fair that he has such deep eyes. It gives one the impression he actually _has_ a soul._

"So, we've gotten your group a suite. There are three beds in it, and anything else you will find necessary for your stay here. We've placed meal times in your room, and here are your keys," he held out three key cards, "There are medi-witches and wizards waiting for you upstairs. You'll find that we've taken the liberty to have your bags taken upstairs already, I can't imagine having to do such heavy lifting!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, you're free to go upstairs. Soon, please, the muggles are looking at us." Sheila said and they saw that, indeed, they had attracted the attention of nearly every muggle in the hall.

"Let's go, then." Blaise said and they turned to go.

One escalator ride later and they were standing outside a door. Hermione's wounds were starting to hurt again, and she was extremely thankful for the healers who were waiting on the other side. Blaise pulled the key card through the slot as Draco shifted; she was quite heavy and he'd been holding her for awhile.

The minute the stepped through the door there was a bustle of activity. Hermione was placed on a small bed, much like the ones from the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. A wizard was standing over her, his blond hair pulled back into a braid on the back of his neck. He waved his wand and she felt her bones and muscle shifting in her shoulder. She winced as he continued to wave his wand, accompanied by several wizards and witches. It didn't hurt, but the sensations were definitely uncomfortable.

She wasn't sure how long this went on, it was in flashes of cloaks and blurs of color, but they were suddenly packing up and leaving. She was lifted into a chair and suddenly the room was empty save her, Blaise and Draco.

"Quite brisk, aren't they?" Blaise muttered, sitting on a large canopy bed.

She smiled and looked around the room.

It was beautiful.

The room itself was circular and the walls were a rich gold and arched into a high ceiling. Clear glass windows that looked like they were made of crystal circled the room, giving them an amazing view of the city below. There were three large, canopy beds with cherry wood posts. The covers were a faint yellow, adorned with gold embroidered silk. Beside each bed (there were three, two facing the third on the opposite side of the room) was a very large chest of drawers, also in a cherry red. There was a large door that she assumed lead to the bathroom near the bed across the room.

Directly opposite the door was a table with four comfortable looking chairs (despite the fact that they were wooden) and a small fridge on a counter, surrounded by a microwave, oven, a series of blenders, coffee makers and machines to make any kind of drink imaginable, and a large television screen so you could sit at the table and still watch whatever show that had caught your eye.

There was a small niche in the wall that fit a couch in it, and a small sitting area was located beside a fireplace and another television. Apparently walking across the room was too much of an effort, even though she had to admit it _was_ massive.

"Wow." She breathed, drinking it all in.

"It's suitable." Draco said haughtily and Blaise laughed. "Here's the schedule."

He picked up a piece of paper on the table. "Hm. Lunch was at 12:30, we've missed it, and dinner is at 6:30."

"Did they tell us what room the other group is in?" She asked, peering over his shoulder to look at the paper.

"No." Draco said carelessly, not sounding the least bit sorry. "Too bad, I guess you won't be seeing Potty and Weasel for awhile."

She glared, "Well I'd rather not spend it in _your _company."

He smirked slyly at her. "I'm sure."

_Ugh! Stupid Malfoy. _She huffed. "If I was given the chance, I would leave you and Blaise forever!"

"Oh really?" He smirked at her. "Then what are you going to do the two days we're here?"

She frowned. "I'll stay up here and talk to Jacob."

"Hm. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with that." He threw himself onto one of the beds.

"I will." She replied and took the bed next to his, as Blaise claimed the one across the room. "If I get bored, I may grace you with my presence."

"I'll be waiting right here for you, then." He smiled coyly at her and stretched his arms up, revealing a strip of skin across his stomach. She blushed furiously and looked away.

"What's wrong, Granger?" He murmured in a sultry voice. "Feeling a bit hot?"

"No!" She hissed. "I almost feel bad for you, Malfoy, that you're so desperate for sex you degrade yourself to go so low as to hit on a _mudblood_."

"Stop insulting yourself, Granger. You're not that bad." Draco snapped and then his eyes widened, clearly he'd expected something a bit more insulting to come from his mouth.

She opened her mouth and then closed it, slightly mollified.

There was a soft clapping and they both jumped, then turned to Blaise. "Nice show."

"Shut up." They both snarled as their other teammate chuckled.

She glared at the two Slytherins and then turned to the bags that had been deposited by her bed. Slowly she began to unpack them, knowing that she would be repacking everything the next evening.

And then her heart lifted.

She had a message from Jacob.

'"_Hey Hermione, I haven't heard from you in awhile and I wanted to see how you were, and whether or not you've killed those people you live with yet. So, call me back? Bye."' _

She smiled. Jacob was such a caring, sweet, amazing person. Everything about him was so_ ideal_. She dialed his phone number quickly.

"Hello?" Andrea answered the phone.

"Hey, its Hermione."

"Oh, yeah. I should program your number into my caller ID." The girl laughed. "Oh… I suppose you want to talk to Jacob?"

"That would be ni-"

"I'm not sure I approve of you two anymore." Andrea huffed, half serious half joking. "I never get to talk to you! And all day all I hear is Hermione _this_ Hermione _that_-_yes this is her I'm talk_-_**Jacob**_!"

"_Hermione?"_ Her stomach fluttered pleasantly.

"Hi." She breathed.

"_Where are you now_?"

"I've no idea." She answered honestly. "We're at a hotel, though."

"_I don't_ _suppose there's any way I could drive there in one night_?" He asked dully and she felt a thrill of happiness shoot through her. He missed her.

"No, unfortunately not. I miss you." She said and ignored the gagging sounds directed at her. "I don't know how I managed to go years without your acquaintance now."

"_I_ _miss you too_." He said softly. "_How long until you're back_?"

"We're here for two nights, and then it's a seven day trip back." She replied, feeling downcast at having to wait so long to see him again.

"_Hm. Do you think I could meet you halfway back_?"

"I'd love that." She said brightly, and then became gloomy. "But we can't. We have to travel alone, its, er, a requirement."

"_I_ _could just meet you for a small bit and then drive back alone_." He suggested and she began to beam.

"Sure. Here, I'll try to find a good direction to give you."

She searched through paper directions and they chatted aimlessly until they reached a destination Jacob was familiar with. They set a time and she grinned widely. _Excellent. _"So what have you been doing?"

"_Sulking, mostly, because you're not here."_ He replied, "_Reading has taken up nearly all my time. How about you_?"

"Oh, you know. Driving, and all. We got into a little mishap, but we only ran into another car; I accidentally missed a turn." She said, editing out quite a bit of their adventure.

"_Are you okay? You weren't hurt, were you_?" He asked worriedly.

"Just a few bumps and bruises." She said cheerfully. "I'm fine now."

"_Good_." Jacob sighed and she flopped out on her bed completely. "_Here hold on—Andrea, shut the fu-_"

"Granger." Draco was poking her. "Granger."

"Leave me alone." She snapped. _Stupid Malfoy. _

"_What_?"

"Oh, no, sorry Jacob. I was talking to one of my _friends_." She said, glaring at Draco.

"_Oh, okay._" He said, and then sighed. "_I'm sorry, I've got to go. I have a phone interview with my professor about something and I might be late._"

"Oh, sure." She said and stuck her tongue out at Draco and Blaise, who were standing at the head of her bed. "Well I'll talk to you later?"

"_Yeah, hopefully I'll catch you while you're free?_"

"Hopefully."

"_Bye, love._" He said and she said goodbye and hung up.

"What?" She asked loudly, exasperated.

"We were telling you that we were going to check out the hotel's assets, and asked if you wanted to join us." Draco said through gritted teeth.

"I'd like to go." She said truthfully. "But I want to shower first."

Draco turned to Blaise abruptly while he pointed to Hermione with a raised hand. "See! Granger wanted to do that first, too!"

Blaise looked amused. "What Granger does is really none of my concern."

"But you find it fitting to intrude in _my_ life!" Draco demanded, sounding harassed.

"Pretty much, yeah." Blaise said simply. "And just for that, I get the shower first."

"Wha-" Draco let out a strangled yell and took off racing to the other side of the room after Blaise. They pushed and shoved each other for a bit by the door, and it ended with Blaise faking consent and then pushing Draco to the floor at the last second.

"Stupid Slytherin." Draco mumbled and resumed his position on his bed. "So Granger, I've a question about muggles?"

"Okay." She said, trying to hide her excitement at those words.

"Are there many who would sleep with someone they don't know, or are they all hung up about relationships before sex like you?" He asked and she flushed furiously.

"Yes, there are still girls who would fuck you without knowing your name." She said through gritted teeth and he looked at her in surprise. "And I would appreciate it if you wouldn't continue to make judgments about me, _Malfoy_."

With that she scowled and then turned her back on him to dig through her bag, throwing things heavily on her bed as she looked for her laptop. Being the organized woman she was, she was going to program in their meal times and the other information included on that piece of paper into her laptop so it would alert her when she should get ready.

"Granger?" Draco got off his bed and walked closer to hers, only to have the top half of a bikini thrown into his face. "Granger, come off it."

She reached her laptop from the bottom of her second bag and pulled it out. Wit both hands she scooped up the clothes from the bed, grabbed the top from Draco and dumped them onto the floor by her bag. _Stupid, stupid Malfoy! _

"Granger, listen to me."

She ignored him and sat on her bed, turning on the laptop. He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and then sat down across from her. "Granger."

She didn't answer and he spoke again. "Granger."

"_What_, Malfoy?" She looked up and snapped. "Honestly, you're so bloody annoying."

"I was asking what I did to annoy you." He said haughtily. "But if it is _such_ an imposition, I'll leave you alone!"

"Fine." She retorted and pulled up her organizer.

"Fine." Draco mimicked her and didn't move. They sat in silence for several minutes. "Look, just tell me what I did! I don't fancy having a mental beaver mad at me."

"Figures the only reason you would press someone to tell you what was vexing them was for your own selfish purposes!" She snarled and then typed furiously, only to find that she had to go back and re-type it all.

Draco paused, looked thoughtful, and then laughed. "Basically, yeah."

She glared.

"Seriously, Granger, did you really think I wanted to know what was wrong with you because I _cared_ about _you_? I'd rather not get on your bad side now, since I'll be stuck with you in a car for another seven days."

"Too late, Malfoy." She growled. "You're already on it!"

He frowned at her and opened his mouth to reply, but it was cut off as Blaise opened the door to the bathroom and steam poured out the door.

"There are two shower stalls." He informed them, and then laughed. Draco was sitting across from Hermione on her bed and they were both leaning in and glaring. "I hope I'm not interrupting something?"

"No!" Hermione sat back and lost her balance. They both sniggered as she fell off the bed backwards. "No you were not interrupting _anything_!"

"Okay." Blaise said mockingly and threw his clothes onto the floor beside his bed. "Anyway, you can both shower now if you want."

"I'm not showering with _him_!" She protested, blushing and she stood up from the floor. _Stupid Malfoy._

"There are two stalls." Draco said slowly, as though talking to a five year old. When she was five, and people talked to her like that she aimed a kick at their shins and shouted, "I can speak English!"

She couldn't think of anything intelligent to say, so to avoid further humiliation she grabbed her shower kit and headed to the bathroom. Steam was covering the mirror in a thick fog and she sighed, wiping some of the perspiration from its glass surface. She looked at her reflection and smiled. Her hair was extremely frizzy and looked like it was floating around her head. Her freckles stood out poignantly on her face, flushed from the heat of the room, and her chocolate brown eyes stared imploring back at her. Same old Hermione.

She glanced at the closed door and pulled off her clothes quickly, before ducking into the shower and turning the spray onto scalding. Hot water had always soothed her. Perhaps partly because hot water would always be hot. It would always heat your skin to the brink of burning, but when you step out of the shower into the cool, steamy air and you would feel cleansed. It was a constant and would never change.

Hermione wasn't like hot water. She felt different, as though some part of her had shifted and changed while she wasn't looking, and that disturbed her.

"Shit!" Draco-or she assumed it was Draco- stumbled through the bathroom door. From the sounds of it, he'd been pushed. He took a minute to compose himself. "Granger, which one are you in?"

She stuck her leg out under the shower curtaining. "Here."

"Okay." He said, no doubt smirking "Nice leg, by the way. Thanks for the viewing."

She pulled her leg back in and yelped as it hit the water. "Don't come near me, Malfoy."

"I wasn't going to, but now that you mention it, I think I might." He said and she heard light footsteps nearing her shower.

_Oh damn it, now you've provoked him._ She groaned inwardly and silently debated the chances of him actually trying to rip aside her shower curtain. _If he does, I'll kill him. _

"Granger, if I pulled this curtain aside," he said conversationally, "What would be your first reaction?"

_Oh dear God he's right out there._ "I would hex you until you couldn't walk, then open the window in the room and push you out." She said, doing her best to imitate his snotty tone. "And then I would laugh hysterically."

"You shower with your wand? What_ are_ you doing in there?" He asked and she was quite sure there was a suggestive edge to it. "Maybe I _do_ want to come in there."

She blushed furiously and pulled the curtain around her body, sticking her head out. "No you don-aaaahhhhhh!"

She screamed and, in an attempt to jump away from him lost her balance in the water and fell onto the floor, shower curtain and all. She did, to her utter humiliation, one of the falls where you try to stumble and end up with wildly flailing limbs and fall no matter what you do. And Draco saw it all.

Apparently Draco wasn't concerned about his state of undress, as he didn't scream and make a mad dash to hide the fact that he was only clothed in boxers. He simply laughed. Somewhat hysterically.

She remained on the ground, slightly stunned, with the water pouring down onto her head and the shower curtain wrapped around her to significantly cover her modesty. "You-you _idiot_!"

_Honestly! _Who_ told him to stand _naked_ outside of _my_ shower? Anyone in their right mind would be completely surprised if he happened to be staring near their shower curtain!_

"Now, I'm going to get into the shower now, don't look unless you _really_ want to." He said through bursts of laughter. She closed her eyes, heard cloth hit the floor and then the closing of his shower curtain.

Her face burning with mortification she stood up and fixed the curtain. _Stupid Malfoy._

-

-

As they strolled down to the elevator Blaise laughed loudly as Draco recounted the shower story and did excellent reenactments of her exact arm flailing, high pitched screaming glory.

"Shut up." She said, her face hot with a blush. "It was an accident. I wasn't _expecting_ to see you half _naked _outside my shower."

"You enjoyed it." He said and Blaise sniggered. She was going to throw a glare at him, but decided that since their fight in the car she shouldn't get on his bad side.

"I did not enjoy it." She replied tersely and his reply was cut off as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. Unfortunately, it was rather crowded, meaning they had to squeeze in and then had no room to move.

Blaise was pushed against the wall almost immediately and was squashed by a male of about twenty, who kept looking at him slyly. She ended up pressed between Draco, two businessmen who were talking to each other and an almost too perfect to be real female. She scowled as Draco gave the girl a once over, taking in her long, thin legs, perfectly sized hips and too-large-to-be-real-but-the-guys-all-like-them-anyway breasts.

"Hello. My name is Draco." His voice lost all of the haughtiness instantly and he spoke quite flirtatiously. "I would shake your hand, but they're both stuck _somewhere _down _there_."

She let out laugh that, to Hermione's ears, was too loud and extremely irritating. "I'm Helga."

"What a lovely name." He purred and Hermione let out a 'hmmpf'. It was the most horrific name she'd ever heard! "Yes?" He turned to look at her, and she realized with disdain he was pretending not to know her!

"Sorry, I just smelled something atrocious. I think I might be allergic." She smiled innocently and then sniffed suspiciously at Helga. "I suppose you can't help it if you smell funny."

"I think you smell delicious." He said softly to Helga. "I love vanilla."

She bit back a laugh. The only smell she was getting from that stupid girl was way, _way_, _way _too much perfume and the dusty smell of makeup. She, on the other hand, was wearing a light vanilla body spray in her hair and on her neck.

"Ooooh I _love_ vanilla too!" Helga said and bounced on the balls of her feet.

_She only did that so everyone in the elevator will look at her chest! _Hermione thought, inwardly groaning at the humiliation every other woman in the world was now undergoing from such derogatory behavior.

Once Draco refocused his gaze on Helga's face- which took _way_ too long for Hermione's liking- Helga smirked at him suggestively. "So are you from around here?"

"No, but I might consider moving here. The girls are much more appetizing." He moved closer, which was quite a feat since they were pressed as close as you can get. Hermione guess that if Helga lowered her incredibly large chest, there might be enough room on the elevator for fifty more people. She was a bit tempted to say so and then ask where she might find herself another set, just for the effect, but figured that would be a bit too much.

Draco moved forward and then he and Helgastarted snogging like they'd had a lifetime of sexual tension between them. Unfortunately, Hermione ended up flat against a fifty year old pervert, who made passes at her for the rest of the ride, which turned out to be quite long and involved another ten people getting on the elevator. For one, terryfing moment she thought she heard the grinding sound of metal on metal and feared they would be stuck there forever, but the moment passed and then she was only aware of the hand creeping down her back.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, Malfoy!_

-

-

They left the elevator in really bad moods. Well, Hermione did anyway. Blaise looked considerably cheerful (flushed, though, she tried to recall if he'd been flirting with any girls, too) and Draco just looked thoroughly snogged. So, really it was just Hermione who was in a bad mood, and no doubt it showed, if the looks of interest she got were any indication.

They spent the next hour or so looking around the hotel. Over the course of that time she found her irritation dissipating slightly, to the obvious relief of her teammates, who'd been rolling their eyes at her when they thought she wasn't looking. It wasn't until they'd walked out of the recreation room and continued down the hallway that she made any attempt at conversation.

"I wish they'd told us where Harry and Ron are." She said and sighed, though it sounded a bit angry.

"Who cares?" Draco said loudly, attracting the attention of several guests. "I could certainly do without the sight of you and those two getting it on."

"We do not _get it on_." She snapped furiously, "Unlike you and _Helga_, who have no sense of public decency."

"Granger, if you had any sense of public decency you wouldn't leave your room." He snapped back. "Can you blame me? I've been cooped up in first the house and then the car, I can't go that long without-"

"That's because you have the sex drive of a rabbit." She said in exasperation, sighing loudly. "And now you smell equally disgusting. Apparently Helga's perfume is easily distributed."

"Is that what that is? I thought that was you." He sniffed the sleeve of his shirt. "That's disgusting."

"Do you honestly think I would ever wear something that horrific, and in such a high concentration?" She replied curiously. After six years he hadn't picked up that she preferred to keep things simple?

"I thought maybe you…wanted to…I don't know." He mumbled and then his face turned a curious shade of light pink, which she noticed immediately in contrast to his pale skin.

"I wanted to what?" She asked suspiciously.

"He thought you were trying to catch his attention." Blaise said and smirked widely.

"No, I didn't!" Draco protested and she smiled slightly.

"Let's keep looking. Maybe we'll see the other group." She didn't think much of Blaise's comment, he seemed to enjoy making Draco squirm.

Draco ignored Blaise up until they were getting ready for dinner, and then spoke frostily for the rest of it.

-

-

"He holds a grudge like a girl." Blaise told her as they waited for him to be finished with the bathroom to change. On their schedule it said to dress formally, so she intended to wear one of the dresses her mother had insisted she wear if she could on the show. After that one night she would no longer have any obligation to do so, and would be free of them.

"He's certainly spent enough time in there." She gestured to the bathroom with the hand not holding her dress.

"We had to get another bathroom put into our dormitory because he took so long no one else could get a chance to use it." Blaise said, his eyes sparkling with amusement as they both watched the closed door.

Hermione laughed and Draco came out of the bathroom scowling. "No, they didn't."

She looked over at him, still smiling. She was quite sure that after her first glance, her eyes bugged out of her head in a very embarrassing fashion. He was dressed in a formal grey suit with a green and silver tie. It looked amazing on him, and seemed to be the kind of suit someone would wear to a film premier, not a somewhat casual dinner. "You look presentable. I won't be ashamed to be seen with you in public, like usual." She said, winking at him and passing by into the room he'd just vacated.

_Did I just wink? _She made a face at the mirror in the bathroom. _Who am I, _Helga_? That was supposed to be a jab at his fashion sense and overall self dignity, the best way to really annoy him, until I winked! What _was_ that?_

She changed into her dress, its cool grey silk swishing slightly as she pulled it up. It actually seemed to match the colour of Draco's eyes quite well, she noted with slight interest. The straps had gatherings on her shoulders and then fell into a modest and still attractive V. The smooth material hung on her frame perfectly and had a jaggedly layered hem that angled to her right calf, ending just above her knee on the other. The feature that had made her mother declare instant love for the garment was the fact that it plunged down to the small of her back from behind, and that had, of course, been the deciding factor in its purchase.

After fixing a small silver chain with a single pearl on it – curtsey of her grandmother on her 12th birthday – she stared at herself in the mirror. When her mother had made her promise to wear it at least once she'd agreed reluctantly, hoping an opportunity never arose for that. But now, seeing it on and the way it made her look, she couldn't help but smile. She looked elegant. It was definitely miles away from her Hogwarts robes, but she felt good. It made her feel beautiful.

When at last she'd looked at herself enough to make her feel incredibly vain she stuffed her discarded clothing into a bag and stepped outside the room. "Blaise, feel free."

When he caught sight of her Blaise began to grin, and Draco looked merely aghast. Even after the third member of their team and had left them his eyes lingered on her, making her uncomfortable. "Er, Malfoy?"

He shook his head, smiling ironically. "I was just thinking…If Helga ever tried to pull off that dress, she would fail miserably."

She laughed lightly, the dress putting her in a charitable enough mood that she didn't want to say something that would escalate to an argument. "Do you like her?"

"Helga? No." He snorted. "She smelled disgusting. And honestly, her breasts were much too big. Couldn't even get near her. It was disgusting. I doubt one smart thing will come out of her mouth her entire life. I regret fouling my mouth with her now."

"Should I change?" She asked suddenly as she thought of something. _'…if she tried to pull off that dress.'_ Maybe she couldn't pull the dress off. Hermione Granger was not a fashion icon, or obsessed with her clothes and looking good, but she was _not_ going to wear around a dress that made her look stupid. She abhorred looking stupid.

"No!" He said quickly and then cleared his throat, averting his eyes. "No, it looks fine. And we've got to go, look, there's Blaise."

She smiled to herself as they were joined and the three moved to the door, leaving their room behind them.

_Stupid Malfoy._

**Author's Note: **

**Read TANGLED UP by HANNAH LONGBOTTOM!!!! **

**And then review. It's her first story, and anyone out there who's ever written one knows the intense nail biting stage you go through for awhile when you wait for people to read it. And review. It really is a great fic so far. XD. Please check it out!**

**I forgot to mention (since I didn't know) but my last update marked my one year anniversary with this fic! It's AMAZING! So thanks everyone! (The bolded ones are reviewer's names (to make it easier, if you're like me and will search through all of them just because I want to find my name XD), and the things in italics are short responses.)**

**TheVampire89**,**arathigal**, **bestavvie**, **burnin4Christ**, **q8iya**(you're _WAY too sophisticated for me to handle, XD_) **AileenDewhurst **(_thanks for that, its good to have someone recognize that. XD_.), **MiaMiaMi**, **GuardianOfTime808**, **Max Ride Fan 13** (_the_ _beta of AWESOMENESS_!), **cemicool**, **Eternal Eyes**, **lilly **(_after the road trip, XD, all in good time!_), **Xonthespot** (_I really did appreciate your review, it was good to have some criticism_), **AmOrFoReVeR** (_thanks so much for all your compliments, :D) _**untamedspiral**(_I debated for a LONG time what Hermione was going to be, and then I realized that it wasn't what her true animal form was, it was only what Sheila and James thought she should be.), _**Zarroc**, **ThenxtMrsEdwardCullen**, and last but not least, **Isadora120**!!!

**You guys are the best reviewers in the world. XD. Thanks so so so much for all your support. **

**Review review review!**


	16. Awkward Interuption

Author's Note: Wow

**Author's Note: Wow. It took me awhile…again. Now, fanfiction took out all the breaks throughout the stories, so I'm (STILL) in the process of re-uploading everything. I edited a few things, mostly spelling mistakes and rephrased sentences. Nothing too noticeable. **

**On with the show!**

**April 21****st****: -starts hyperventilating- I spent the last WEEK slaving over the chapters, working so that there were dividers and GUESS WHAT! I went to check and see which ones I hadn't done and WHAT DO YOU KNOW! The spaces are BACK! Normally this wouldn't bother me, I hadn't started on The Initiation yet. But I spent a lot of time doing it, and figuring out the order of chapters and now…all the work gone to waste. Time I could have spent writing this chapter! –huffs-**

**Thanks to my awesome beta, Max Ride Fan 13! You rock!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own it.**

Hermione couldn't recall, possibly in her entire life, an evening worse then this one. They'd walked down together and had waited in a short line by the dining hall. That was fine. But then it had started.

"Table for two?" The person at the front desk had asked politely.

"No." She's snapped, and then sighed. "We should have a reservation with more people..."

She'd turned to look at them and realized, for the first time that night that she and Draco matched like a couple. Like they'd specially choreographed themselves to look together.

"My sincerest apologies." He'd said. "Under what name?"

"HOH Smith." She'd responded, double checking with a glance back at Draco.

"Right this way." He'd smiled at them and they followed him through the dining hall and around a corner.

She'd smiled brightly at the other group and nodded to both Sheila and James.

Of course, she'd sat beside Draco and James, across a circular table from Ron and Harry. The food had been delicious and the presentation was spectacular. Each dish looked like a masterpiece, better suited for a photograph or a painting. That reminded her of Blaise's knack for photography and she smiled. After Harry and Ron spent a large portion of five minutes demanding to know how she was feeling after the car crash, and to make sure they'd done a proper healing job she was starting to feel a lot better about the competition.

The live jazz band that had been playing quietly throughout dinner picked up livelier tempos for dancing. Immediately James whisked away Sheila and she smiled in spite of herself. They were shallow enough for each other, but seemed genuinely happy.

"So, Blaise, when the prettiest girl in this room asks you to dance, will you go off on your merry way with her?" Pansy asked teasingly.

"I doubt it." Draco snorted, rolling his eyes. "Blaise has more honor then _that_, haven't you heard? He wouldn't mislead a_ girl_ for pleasure."

"Shut up." Blaise snapped irritably, his eyes focused on a couple dancing.

Someone asked Harry to dance in the next second and she watched him stammer his way through a decline. Unconcerned, she'd turned to look over the dance floor but was interrupted. By _her_.

"Draco!" A high pitched shriek took Hermione's wistful eyes off the dance floor.

"Helga." He said suavely, his eyes running up and down her curvy body. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I don't know what that means, but I know something with much more pleasure." She giggled and draped herself over him.

"Hm." He said, sounding uninterested. "I like this song."

"Me too!" Helga beamed, her eyes bright, and did a small dance by herself, still half on top of Draco. "This dance is for you."

"Hm." He said and let his eyes drift over to Hermione, who was staring incredulously at the girl. Helga noticed that and turned around, shaking her bum in his direction and glaring at Hermione.

Hermione smiled slowly, finding it quite amusing the extents this girl-_more like woman_- she added to herself as she had a frontal view of the great bouncing Helgas, would go to to impress Draco.

"Hey, Granger?" Draco asked, his eyes looking over at her. Harry and Ron looked up, interested as Pansy pouted a bit.

"What, Malfoy?" She asked as Helga froze.

"Do you want to dance?"

"YES!" Helga cried delightedly and jumped on Draco. "Oh yes, lets go _now_!"

Draco smirked. It was obviously a ploy to get her to be even more slutty then usual.

Hermione glared as Helga pulled Draco to the dance floor. There was a short silence, and then another girl asked Harry to dance. He flushed and refused.

Ron pulled out his cell phone and began to play with it-she couldn't tell if he was actually doing something or was just bored.

"Ron." Harry hissed and jabbed the red-head in the side. Ron looked up and shook his head as the Gryffindor jerked his head in Hermione's direction.

"Why?"

"I'm texting." Ron snapped and that was it.

"Who?" She asked, wondering who in the world he was talking to.

"Mmmph." He grunted.

"Again?" That was Pansy, to Harry. "All he ever does is text, e-mail, msn and talking on the phone!"

Harry nodded and turned his eyes back to his plate, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if… Naw."

"What?" She asked, not liking the feeling of being in the dark.

"Nothing." He shrugged and that ended the conversation.

"Does anyone want to dance?" She asked hopefully, looking at them all.

"Ron." Harry nudged him.

"Nope." The Weasley didn't even look up.

Harry sighed. "I brought a…er…a book." He pulled it out from under the table and started reading.

"Pansy?" Blaise offered. Pansy shrugged, not looking too enthusiastic but followed him anyway. Perhaps the time apart had been good for their relationship.

"I wonder if Pansy and Blaise would ever be together." She thought out loud. Evidently, they heard her.

"Impossible." They both said, smirking slightly. "Completely impossible."

She stared as they turned and walked away, still smirking like they were in on some joke.

Hermione felt insulted. Harry, Harry_ Potter_, would rather_ read_ then dance with her. Ron wouldn't even _look up_ from his mystery friend. Draco was off with _Helga_. And Pansy and Blaise were off _dancing together_, probably having a good time.

"This isn't a very pleasing experience." She mumbled.

Half an hour later she pulled out her cell phone to call Jacob, but he wouldn't pick up. And Andrea was busy, apparently. She looked at Harry, who was staring at his book with unmoving eyes. To Ron, who was texting so quickly she had trouble keeping up with his fingers. To Blaise, who had moved over to the refreshment table and was talking to someone who looked vaguely familiar, like she'd seen him for a second before. To Pansy, who was dancing with a handsome stranger. To Draco, who was…who was not there.

She frowned.

He was probably with _Helga_.

She stood up and said a quick farewell to Ron and Harry. Perhaps she could have a nice, long bath…

-

-

Hermione had never believed in karma. But then again, by the age of eight she'd given up on the idea of magic altogether for more practical things.

Considering the things she'd been enduring, she was starting to wonder what she'd done that was bad enough to deserve this.

She'd gone upstairs and fumbled for about a minute and a half for her key outside the door to their room when she heard some strange noises. It sounds like someone was moving around a lot, banging into all the furniture. Perhaps Draco and Blaise had come back early and were fighting?

She threw the door opening, getting ready to break them up when-

"Dracoooo." Helga crooned and Hermione gasped. Draco and Helga were-were…

She slammed the door and leaned against it, her heart beating a mile a minute. _At least they had clothes on. _

She nodded to herself and closes her eyes tightly.

_Half, anyways_.

This summer was not going the way she'd planned. At all. While imagining the summer before she graduated Hogwarts, she'd thought of traveling with her parents to places like Egypt to see the tombs, to Ireland, she loved those accents…And Canada, she'd never been there. There were so many places to go!

And being stuck in this place was not ideal.

At all.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. It was nothing. She might be a little traumatized, but at least they hadn't been doing anything _worse_. Yet.

Sickened by that thought, Hermione turned away from the door and began walking down the hall again. She waited patiently for the elevator, hoping that it wasn't as crowded as before.

_Ding!_

She smiled as the doors opened. The smile disappeared.

Two people were pressed up against the wall, kissing fiercely. Was this some kind of sick joke? She clenched her hands together and turned away, deciding to wait for the next elevator instead of staying in there with those two.

Until she saw that one of them was Blaise.

And the other was male.

She let out a strangled gasp as her eyes widened. No…there was no way…he wasn't…gay?

'"_So, Blaise, when the prettiest girl in this room asks you to dance, will you go off on your merry way with her?"_

"_I doubt it." Draco snorted, rolling his eyes. "Blaise has more honor then that, haven't you heard? He wouldn't mislead a girl for pleasure."_

"_Shut up." Blaise snapped irritably.'''_

He wouldn't lead a _girl _on, but they said nothing of a_ boy_.

…

'_He also has his fair share of girls that flock after him, none of which he shows any interest in. We wonder why this is, however when asked by anyone he either does not answer and gives you a cold look with his amazing eyes, or will tell you to mind your own business. If you ask a Slytherin about this, they will simply ignore you or reply with something rude. We have, however, figured out the reason. Blaise Zabini is in love with-"'_

Of course he wasn't interested in any of the girls who flocked him. And as for the well kept Slytherin secret. Something that would be a touchy subject for him and would provoke his irrational reaction.

…

'"_What do you want me to do, have tea parties with you?" Draco snapped, taking a turn more sharply then necessary. "I'm not interested in that kind of thing, sorry."_

_Blaise blushed, "no. But there are a lot of people who have lives that don't revolve around hating the Dream Team."'_

He could have taken that as a snide gay joke.

…

'"_You two are very immature." Blaise said, shaking his head._

"_Says he who completely freaked out over a sentence." Hermione shot back. This banter was strange in the sense that it was friendly._

_It didn't stay that way, however. Draco bit his lip and looked over at Blaise, his hands on the steering wheel tightening. Blaise stiffened, his eyes flashing and his muscles tight. His tone became acidic. "Don't talk about things you don't understand, Granger."'_

Of course she hadn't understood then…

…

'_Draco broke off mid sentence when she got back and she had the sneaking suspicion she had just fallen for a ploy to get rid of her.'_

Perhaps Draco was trying to calm him down.

…

'"_Why did your parents want you on the show?" Hermione asked Blaise as they leaned on their car, waiting for Draco to return._

"_I can't imagine why anyone's parents would. Have you spoken to yours?"_

"_Sort of." She replied, "I suppose Sheila and James turned on the charm. I really hope they don't watch it, that would be embarrassing. Do you want yours to?"_

"_How __could __your parents watch it, it's a wizarding station." He asked and he shrugged._

"_I think it was installed, I'm not sure." She didn't have time to ask why he had avoided answering her questions when she heard a scream. "Did you hear that?"'_

He avoided her questions because he was disowned, and it was probably because of that reason. No wonder he didn't want to talk about his parents…

…

'"_I would have anyway." Blaise said harshly. "My parents disowned me last year before Christmas and Draco offered me a room in Malfoy Manor. That is my home now. The only things I have are the things I had before and enough money to get me through school and started in the world, a parting gift from my mother because she couldn't bear to let her only child die no matter what kind of horrible thing he inflicted upon himself." He spat the last few words out quite bitterly.'_

Of course some people would feel that he brought it on himself…

…

'_Blaise was pushed against the wall almost immediately and was squashed by a male of about twenty, who kept looking at him slyly.'_

Come to think of it, she thought she could remember some predatory looks coming from Blaise as well.

…

'_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, Malfoy! __They left the elevator in really bad moods. Well, Hermione did anyway. Blaise looked considerably cheerful (flushed, though, she tried to recall if he'd been flirting with any girls, too) and Draco just looked thoroughly snogged.' _

She thought of the guy he'd been pressed up to, and realized it was the same one he was snogging then.

She gaped at them both stupidly until, with a slight shift and eye-opening, the other male noticed her presence. She recognized him immediately from the couple Blaise been watching, and the person he'd had been talking to at the refreshment table.

"Oh!" He gasped as they made eye contact and Blaise shot her a quick glance, before turning back. Then he stiffened and jumped away from the other, apparently just realizing who she was.

"Hermione!" He nearly yelled in surprise. "I didn't see you there!"

"I certainly wasn't expecting to see you, either." She gestured at the other male, who was blushing furiously. "So you're gay?"

"Er…yes." Blaise said, looking around as though he could see the cameras and had just remembered they might be there.

"Interesting." She stepped into the elevator. "My eyes just got assaulted by Malfoy and _Helga_."

Blaise nodded, looking flustered. "So, er, where are you going?"

She shrugged nonchalantly, her mind racing from the news. "Probably down to the lounge. Maybe I'll find a good book in the store."

"Oh." The bell dinged and she beamed up at him, before gesturing to the other male. "Well, carry on."

She stepped out of the elevator and Blaise stared after her, mystified.

-

-

"We've decided to tell you what the prize for winning this challenge is." Sheila announced at breakfast. "Just to make sure you _really _want it."

The all perked up, this ought to be interesting.

"Firstly, though, we're just going to tell you that some time this week, when you come to your next challenge, we'll have an auction type thing, except you'll be able to trade one member of your team for another." Hermione stared, her eyes glazing over as she considered these possibilities. "The representatives for the trade will be Draco for the Bloody Fuckers and Harry for the Pansy Pickers."

"The Pansy Pickers get a fifteen minute head start for beating the Bloody Fuckers here." James said, looking quite smug. "Also, for winning the first half we're giving each of you a cash prize of 50 Galleons."

"Now, for winning the second half, on the way back, we have a really big prize." Sheila said, barely containing a smile at their eager expressions. "If you win…well of course they have to agree first and you have to choose as a group." She looked over at James, who nodded and continued.

"If you win, you get to pick someone to join you on The House of Hell."

-

-

"Hermione," Harry sat down across from her with an annoyed expression the next morning after breakfast. "Ron and I, mostly _Ron_, want to talk to you."

"Of course." She smiled beckoningly and set down the book she'd picked up the previous night. "What about?"

"About the prize." Ron said, looking uncomfortable. "We, well, _I_," after a pointed look from Harry," just thought we should tell you that we're going to ask Ginny to come on."

Hermione smiled. "We haven't decided, we're going to talk about it in the car."

"Yeah…" Harry looked a bit nervous. "That's also what we sort of wanted to talk to you about…your group."

"What is it?" She asked, her eyes flicking back and forth between them.

"Just be reasonable." Ron said, smiling sheepishly. "But if you harried your groups chances of winning, we'd be sure to have Ginny on the show! Not another Slytherin."

Irrational anger filled her halfway through his sentence. "You want me to sabotage my group's chances just so you can win!"

"Not exactly. So you can spend more time with Ginny." Harry shook his head at Ron, who didn't seem to be getting the message.

"How would you two feel if my group got Pansy to sabotage you? How dare you assume I would stoop so low as to clear the way for you! Are you afraid of competition?" She had to lower her voice near the end; people were staring.

"Of course not." Harry said, his words slurring in his haste to fix their obvious mistake. "Really, we just assumed you'd want to know who we planned to ask on, and we thought that maybe you wouldn't try your hardest to win. It's understandable."

"Well," she snapped, "I can think of a million reasons why _you_ would want Ginny on the show."

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second.

A million sharp comments slid onto her tongue, but she realized what she was going to do a second early. It was exactly what she'd done before. Pick up something her friends –her _friends_!- would never want announced and use it against them.

Her eyes widened as self disgust filled her.

What was she doing?

She was being… Slytherin!

Horrified, she turned away, anger at herself and them sizzling. "I should go. And no, I will _not_ ruin our chances of winning for you."

She stormed to their room, fury making the air crackle around her in a way that it hadn't done in years. She fumbled with her key for about a minute before she could finally swipe it through and throw the door open. With an annoyed sigh, she collapsed on her bed, feeling like a stupid drama queen waiting for people to crowd her and ask what was wrong.

To her disappointment, Draco actually asked what had upset her from his chair across the room. Well, it was actually more of a, "what's wrong with you, Granger?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

He didn't say anything, and she was glad for it. After Blaise so nicely told Draco she'd walked in on him and Helga, they'd been exchanging awfully awkward looks. Afterward, Blaise had spent about an hour talking to the camera in the confession box, and seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed his coming out surprise. The guy he was with's name was Taylor. Blaise had cheerfully announced the next morning at breakfast that he hoped his mother and her newest husband had heart attacks and died when they saw the footage on the show-which he knew they were watching. He'd also said that, if anyone was wondering, Taylor had also been very good in bed, and that he hoped if his previous announcements hadn't killed them yet, this one should do it.

They'd dropped the subject before Pansy could ask for details.

"I'll be right back." Blaise stood up and strode to the bathroom, where he slipped through the door and smirked at the two of them. "And please, play nice."

"Hm." She grumbled, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Well, since that frustratingly stupid and equally imbecilic Blaise so nicely started up this conversation, I'm going to continue it. Why did you sleep with Helga?"

"Because I wanted to." Draco said slowly and sat up, a mournful look on his face. "Why else?"

"Do you remember saying she was disgusting and you didn't want to go near her again?" She asked, keeping her voice calm.

"Yeah, so?"

"So you go back on everything you say." She continued, her voice angry. "Is it impossible for the male species to abstain?"

"No." Draco snapped. "But if I find someone I want a deep and romantic connection with, or whatever it is you Gryffindors want, I'll let you know."

"That's not the point." She replied icily. "Honestly, do you have any self dignity?"

"Yes." He glared at her, "But not all of us are prudish Gryffindors!"

"We're not prudish Gryffindors, and we're also not so desperate and imbecilic that we'll take anything we get just because we're sex crazed lunatics and it's the only way we can get affection because our parents hate us!" She nearly shouted and broke off when she saw his face.

His glare hardened into a defensive scowl as his eyes widened, an expression of pain crossing his features before it turned to one of utmost loathing. "You don't know everything, Granger."

She flinched away as he stood up violently, eyes burning her and stormed out the door. With a loud slam she was alone. And regretting it intensely. She'd done it again. What was she turning into?

With a loud sigh she threw herself onto her bed, tears stinging her eyes.

"I said play nice." She heard Blaise mutter as he followed Draco out.

-

-

Hermione slowly walked over to where Draco and Blaise were sitting, half an hour early to dinner. They looked over at her, their expressions cold when she sat across from them.

"What do you want?" Draco snapped, his eyes running up and down her simple skirt and blouse with an expression of exaggerated disdain.

"I need to apologize." She said hurriedly, playing with her napkin and staring at the table. "What I said was rude and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

He nodded curtly. "You should be."

"I am." She lifted her head to look him straight in the eye.

He looked disconcerted for a second, and then his expression smoothed over. "Fine. Apology accepted, then."

"Good." She smiled easily, glad that their fight was over. Both males looked surprised at her quick mood change, but then seemed to accept it as part of being around a _female_ with a quick glance. "So about the auction…"

The spent the next while entertaining themselves by suggestions strange combinations and the possible outcomes of certain groups. Pointless, perhaps. But amusing? Very.

Until Harry and Ron walked through the door, and she glared at them, making a point to move closer to Blaise and away from their chairs.

"Hermione-"

"Oh be quiet Ron!" She snapped, "I will not calm down!"

Draco sniggered. "What did he do?"

"Nothing." Hermione snarled and Ron smiled nervously. "And do not tell me to be reasonable!"

"I wasn't going to." Ron grimaced. "Someone's in a bad mood. She did tell me you were sort of…"

He trailed off at the end of what sounded like an afterthought not meant for anyone else to hear.

"Who told you what?" She leaned forward as Pansy and Harry traded significant looks.

"You don't even want to know." Pansy said and picked up her glass of water.

"Yes, actually, I do." She said, raising her eyebrows as Ron pulled out his cell phone, flipped it open and began to text.

Again.

"Ron, give it a rest, alright?" Harry said, annoyed. "You can talk to her later."

"I'd rather talk to her now."

"Who is it?" Hermione repeated, watching in interest as Harry and Pansy shared another look.

"No one." Ron muttered, and ignored her questions for the rest of the night.

Since she was still angry with Harry, she wouldn't speak to him either and Pansy went off dancing the second she was able, leaving Blaise, Draco and her. She didn't get very involved, too busy anticipating the arrival of Helga.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes into the dancing, the Helgas (all three of them) came bouncing over. "Oooh Draco! I have such news! I know you'll be amazed!"

He rolled his eyes at Blaise and smirked. "Hello…Er…Hello."

She pouted, "You don't remember me?"

"Of course I remember you," She beamed, "It's Hember…Hember, right?"

"NO!" She shrieked and stood up straight. "It's Helga! Helga! Helga! Helga! Helga!" With each word she stomped her foot on the floor and tossed her hair. "Do you remember telling me it was a wonderful name?"

"Helga?" He shook his head slowly, "No. I don't lie. I remember vaguely meeting you in the elevator, though."

"Don't you remember last night? When you…" She then said the most vulgar and repulsive things Hermione had ever heard in her life describing things that Draco probably_ had_ done. "Remember?"

"Excuse me." Draco inserted angrily, "but my fiancée is sitting right here."

Helga turned an accusative face to Hermione. "Your fiancée?"

"Yes," Hermione said as a vindictive fury welled up inside her. "We've been engaged for six months! Isn't it wonderful?" She turned to Draco and gave him what was hopefully her most dazzling smile. "I can't wait until I take your name. Especially the honeymoon."

He smiled back at her, amusement shining through his eyes. "Of course. Though its nothing we've never done before…"

"But Draco…you have to know!" Helga burst into tears which Hermione assumed were joyful, because she was beaming. "I took a test this morning."

Hermione's head snapped around.

"Draco, I'm pregnant!"

**Author's Note: I won't even bother with the excuses. I'm sorry, and I won't bore you with my semi traumatic life…That aside…**

**MWAHAHAHAHAHA! –cackles evilly- I know. Bad ending. But just so you know, The Initiation will be drawing to close in the future, and I mean by the end of summer, which doesn't seem like that close but it is. To me, anyway. So then I'd like to get a head start on this one, and then I've got a poll up asking you which of two ideas you'd like me to write most. So please vote!**

**Errrm…Oh, there was a bit of confusion last chapter. The end of this story will probably take place when they are back at Hogwarts. Trust me, this is only the beginning. XD.**

**Well my internet is down right now…so yeah. You'll probably be reading this several days after I wrote it…But yeah.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Review review review!!**


	17. Sensei Joe

**Author's Note: Everything Joe teaches them is real. I remembered as much as I could from the class I took at school as I could, so its real. It also works. I've done it. XD. And the fall partner exercise, did that too. It BURNS!**

**OH MY GOD! I'm going to Simple Plan's concert in Toronto on Augest 29th as a birthday gift from my mom! (My birthday's the 19th) I am UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED!**

**Special thanks to my wonderful beta Max Ride Fan 13!!**

**To Inner Self: It took a long time, but I finally got Draco and Blaise to volunteer her! I hope things were up to your standards, though its not quite the same freaky Kill Billish woman (or woman at all). I have yet to see that movie…But I will!**

**Disclaimer: No offense, but if you haven't realized that I'm not J.K Rowling by now, you're obviously a few fries short of your happy meal. I also do not own McDonalds. Just in case, you know, McDonald is reading this and wants to sue me…-coughs-**

"It's too early." Hermione said, pacing in front of Draco and Blaise. Draco and Hermione had decided to seriously consider their 'relationship' and then had retreated up to the suites, where Draco, white faced and shaking, had collapsed on a sofa and Blaise had sat, cross legged beside him. "There's no way she could know the day after. It's – it's impossible."

She looked at the two members of her team as they stared back at her.

"Fuck." Draco said loudly. "Fuck. Fuck this! How could this happen!"

"I wonder," she said sarcastically, somehow her fury over his irresponsible actions outweighed her pity for him and worry over the entire situation. "Could it have possibly been that – Oh gosh, I dunno, maybe something you two did yesterday? Like, sex?"

He glared at her, "That was rhetorical, Granger. Do you have any sensitivity?"

"Yes, but not when you make a stupid, imbecilic decision and realize that all things have consequences, not just for you." She said smartly and ignored Blaise's look that clearly said _Shut UP!_

"Don't. Just don't." He bit out and began to pace quickly back and forth. "What am I going to do? I can't just hang around her for the rest of her life! She's muggle!"

"Wait," Hermione cut in, "you actually plan to be involved in this?"

"The damage is done." Draco snapped, "it doesn't matter if I hand her a big fat check to handle the cost I would pay by being her h-husband, because if she demands I not leave her, what do I say? Sorry, but no?"

"Wouldn't it be easier for you to just…leave?" She could barely believe that she was speaking the words, but in her head she'd been thinking about how he couldn't possibly stay with her, and how furious she would be when he abandoned Helga, because no woman deserves that.

"No child of mine will ever be left with nothing." He snarled and ran a hand through his silky hair. "I just – I should have – Why?"

"Hermione could be right." Blaise said, trying to calm his friend. "It's too early to tell. It's not like with some species in the magic world where they can tell right away."

"But what if she is." Draco asked, wringing his hands nervously.

"Here's what we'll do." Hermione said reasonably. "Set up a doctor's appointment in a week from now and then another a week after. We'll get her checked both times for a pregnancy at two different practices. Also, give her an e-mail address, or phone number or such to contact you at, just in case. If she is…pregnant, you should find out what she wants to do. There are three options. Abortion, adoption or keeping it."

Draco nodded, absorbing the information as though he as given a second chance at life. Blaise looked torn between an attempt at calm and worry, and Hermione had a cold feeling in her stomach that had been knotting and unknotting ever since Helga had made the announcement. She was still frozen in a state of shock, though somehow, by a miracle, her brain was functioning.

"If she isn't, then call her to say what you want and we can leave. Oh, and delete your account under the address you give her after this ordeal or she'll plague you." She added thoughtfully and felt the feeling come into her fingers. _Of course it's too early, there really is no way she could be pregnant with his child. Well, I suppose she could…But she couldn't know._

"How many precautions did you use?" She asked him next, because who knew? It could be useful to know.

"Er…one?"

"Always use two." She said informatively. "Then there's a very vast success rate. Of course, the only sure way to avoid a pregnancy is abstinence."

Draco snorted. "You're the only one who follows that method."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but seized the subject in hope of distracting Draco. "I'm not vowing to abstain, exactly. Just to wait for the right person."

"How do you know they're the right person? How do you know I didn't think my first was the right person?" He asked argumentatively.

"It's different for most men. Uncountable surveys have said that, not sexism. Most of them don't understand the emotions woman do about sex, obviously, because our brains function differently. And it's easy for them to walk away and forget that part of their life, if a girl gets pregnant, no matter what she does it still happened. You can't just forget you had a baby growing inside you, no matter what you do with it. Adoption, abortion…" She tried to stay un-opinionated, but couldn't.

"You think abortion is wrong." Draco stated calmly.

"No," she corrected, "I think its wrong as a birth control method. I believe in woman's choice. Do you think it's fair for a 14 year old rape victim to be told she has to have her father's baby by some man in the government who has no idea her situation?"

"She's still killing a baby." Blaise cut in. "The child had nothing to do with her father's choice, it was only the consequence."

"The chances of it having no mutations or brain dysfunctions is slim. Does it deserve that? And the thought of it knowing its father is its grandfather too! What kind of life would they live?" She demanded, her eyes narrowing at him.

"You don't want them to live at all!" Blaise argued back, "Every child is a blessing!"

"And of what of the girl or woman or child, even, who has to endure this?" She demanded, "What of them and how they feel?"

"Like their guilt for killing an innocent child?" He shot back, his voice raising slightly in anger. "Maybe the baby would give them some source of happiness!"

"Really? You think so? And what of the baby's life? The chances of dysfunctions and mutations and the life they would have to endu-"

"Compared to the life _you'd_ want them to have? Oh yeah, that's no life at all. You'd rather kill them." He gestured to Draco, who was watching them solemnly. "What if Helga decided her choice was to get an abortion?"

"Did you rape Helga?" She asked Draco viciously, half flinching. "It sure didn't sound like it when I walked in on you."

"No." He glared at her, his jaw clenched.

"Well, then, there, I agree. I think it is wrong." She said and Blaise laughed bitterly.

"Or is that only because it would be Draco's child and then maybe you'd actually have a chance with someone associated with his name! Maybe if you try hard enough you might even fool yourself into thinking it's him!" His voice was near shout, now. "You'd only have to wait another twenty or so years!"

She gaped at him, stung and astonished. "You are even more stupid then I realized. This isn't even involving him! This is about abortion!"

"Really, because your mind is already made up about that!" Blaise screamed at her, "You Gryffindors boast about loyalty and fairness and shit like that, and you're not even loyal to your own damn species!"

"You'll never understand what it would be like," she shouted back, unaware of the rise in their voices. "You'll never know what it will be like, because you are a male! You'd never be able to have children on your own, or imagine what it would be like to have something so huge in your mind _all the time_!"

She didn't know exactly what it would feel like herself. She could only imagine what it would be like in a bad circumstance; how horrifying it would be to have all your ideals and hopes for your life suddenly seem just out of reach; to know that you held another life inside you and that you didn't want it.

"Why, thank you for pointing out the wonderful truth, Granger, that I will never be able to have a child with the person I love because we will both be men." He said in a cold, icy voice. His eyes glittered dangerously and his expression was enough to make the blood in her veins freeze.

She stared at him and it began to dawn on her why this would be important to him; the reason he was so vehement that all children should be important. Even if he found the person he loved the most in the world, they could never have a baby with both their genes, and maybe either one. He would never be able to look into the eyes of his child and say, 'she has your face and my eyes.'

She felt a bit dizzy with this realization and grabbed onto her bed post. "But…well, someone will help you, they could be the surrogate. Or you can adopt."

"It's not the same." He said, his face and expressionless mask. "Is it? Children are miracles, and abusing one just because you didn't anticipate it is disgusting and cruel."

She couldn't help shaking her head. "I can't agree with you. I understand what you're saying," she added when he opened his mouth angrily, "but I can't agree. Just like you can't agree with me."

Blaise turned to Draco, who had yet to say anything. "What do _you _think?"

"I agree with Blaise." He said quietly, staring out the window as though he hadn't heard half of what they'd said.

She felt slightly disappointed. "Oh."

"I understand you, Granger, but it's close to Pureblood culture as well. Every possible heir is important, every child is part of your family and family ties are the strongest in the world. I have to agree with Blaise. Children shouldn't be taken advantage of because they don't have a choice."

She nodded, silent and it resonated in their room for a few minutes.

"Why are you so annoyed with Potter and Weasley?" Draco asked suddenly, as though trying to catch her unaware.

She shrugged, "They asked me to sabotage our group's chances of winning because it would mean Ginny could come on the show. But it was mostly Ron's idea."

Draco snorted, "So what are you going to do to stop us?"

"Nothing," she snorted. "I doubt Ginny would want to come onto this show because I ruined our chances. And I've decided I want us to win."

"Took you awhile." Draco laughed humorlessly. "So you won't try to stop us winning? Because we're not voting on the she-Weasel."

"We're still a team. And we're going to win." Draco and Blaise (his face relaxing from stony to rock like) both stared at her. They had seriously misjudged her and while she was still annoying and stupid, (well not really stupid but it was reassuring to say it) she was a good teammate. And for some reason, she was fair to them even though they were Slytherins. _Another Gryffindor trait, no doubt. _Draco thought bitterly.

But as Blaise turned away, Draco continued on staring as her eyes shone with determination and there was a slight flush to her cheeks. It was only when she looked at him and asked, "What?" That he realized he was staring.

"Hm? Oh I was just thinking." He fumbled quickly. "It's late. I want to sleep and try not to think about this…this thing."

Instantly the Blaise gave Draco a reassuring smile and she sobered up completely. Hermione snatched up a small bag beside her bed and her pajamas, before hurrying into the bathroom. She rushed through washing her face and brushed her teeth quicker then usual. She pulled on a pale cream nightgown and braided her hair. Her mind was much too preoccupied to have a shower now, and the others had to use the bathroom as well.

Once she was out Draco went in and brushed his teeth. Blaise was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. She didn't say anything, just turned off the light beside her bed and climbed into it. The only sound was of water running and a brushing noise. She could only see a faint outline of Blaise because the light was on the other side of his bed.

Draco came out and threw his clothes off wildly, before climbing on his bed and pulling the curtains around it.

The only sound penetrating the room was breathing. Draco's was muffled behind the curtains, Blaise's was soft and slow and Hermione's was more alert and awake.

She couldn't sleep.

She turned over so her left side was resting on the pillow. Something was nagging at her consciousness and not allowing her to sleep. And she knew what. Helga. It was too soon, there was no way to know! She knew it was a fact, but there was still part of her that felt like it was true… the simple fact was, any female could get pregnant after having sex. Helga could be pregnant, but she couldn't know. It was that simple. But somehow…it just felt like it must be true.

She turned over again and buried her face in her pillow.

If she was… She wasn't quite sure how she would take that news. After nearly fainting and grabbing the table while Helga glowed, she'd turned to stare at Draco. He'd gone so pale – paler than she'd seen anyone in her life – and the fact that he thought it a possibility scared her even more.

With an exasperated sigh she rolled onto her back.

She didn't know why it scared her. She would've thought she'd be happy at Draco's humiliation. But the look on his face, terror and disbelief rolled into one horrified expression stayed with her.

With a sigh she stood up and got her bag for a shower. On the way over she stopped at Blaise's bed and turned off the light. "Honestly." Feeling a bit like a mother she pulled off his shoes and then went into the bathroom.

It was a long night.

-

-

The next morning she awoke to frantic shouting. She groaned and sat up wearily. Draco was darting around like mad between the dresser he'd placed his clothing in and his bed, throwing his clothes everywhere. Blaise was yelling at him to stop being an idiot, his hands in the process of speedily folding a shirt. They both had suitcases open on their beds.

"Granger!" Draco bellowed, his eyes wide with panic. "It's 5:30! We're supposed to leave in half an hour!"

"What?!" She nearly shrieked and threw the covers off her bed. "Why didn't they tell us?"

"They wanted to surprise us." Blaise said dryly. "Draco, calm down!"

She stood up and grabbed a change of clothes. After closing the door to the bathroom, which somewhat muffled the noise of the other two, she began to hurriedly get dressed. After throwing on a pair of track pants – it probably wasn't too hot outside- and a t-shirt she brushed her teeth, washed her face and ran from the room.

Somewhat frantically she pulled her bag up from under her bed, feeling smug as she decided to use magic to fold them all in neatly. Draco had managed to shove all his clothes into his and was zipping it up, while Blaise was pulling on his shoes and checking under the bed for anything he'd dropped.

Hermione was about to use her wand when she realized they would lose points. She gasped loudly and pulled out her clothes from her drawers and tried to neatly toss them into her bag. Even then she was forced to pull some articles out and rearrange them until she was sure nothing else would fit. Unfortunately, she realized a second later, her running shoes were at the very bottom of her bag.

She looked at the clock on the wall. _5:50_. There was no time to redo it! She checked under her bed and, to her relief, found a pair of high heels that must have fallen out of her bag. But, to her horror, after she'd spent 3 minutes strapping them on, she noticed that they were uncomfortably high. _Oh good lord, I'll go without shoes! _

She was going to yank them off when Draco rushed by with his suitcase. "Let's go!"

Blaise was hurrying along behind him and, when she bent down to try and undue one anyway, said, "Come_ on_!"

She had no choice but to follow. She almost fell over on the way to the elevator and had to grab onto the wall.

_5:58._ By the time they got downstairs they were practically sprinting as Hermione wobbled on her shoes. She tried to walk on just the front and leave the heels alone altogether, but just as they came in view of the other team, tussled but early, her left heel got caught on her right (how did that happen?) and she went flying. She reached out and accidentally grabbed Draco's jacket, and he grabbed Blaise and they all went sprawling forward onto the floor.

She'd heard somewhere that you were supposed to turn when you fall and take the strain through your arms, but unfortunately she only ended up falling on top of Draco and elbowing the spine in his lower back rather aggressively.

"Ouc - _FUCK_!" He yelled loudly and the sentiment was echoed by Blaise, who had, unfortunately, taken the brunt of both their falls.

Her elbow was smarting quite a lot, as were her knees. She was lying with her left elbow on still on Draco's back and her left leg crossed over his, almost curling around his right knee. Draco had landed half over Blaise's suitcase and a quarter on top of him.

Hysterical laughter made her look up. The few people who were in the lobby were staring pointedly at them, while the workers at the desks looked disapproving. The five waiting for them were all laughing. Hermione huffed and managed to get up and stood up, hands on hips. "Oh shut up! It was a misplaced foot!"

"You idiot!" That was Draco as he stumbled onto his feet and steadied himself, before moving to help up Blaise. "Why are you wearing those shoes if you can't walk in them?"

"Because you two were screaming like lunatics for me to hurry up!" She retorted angrily.

"We didn't want to be late!" Draco said and flicked an imaginary piece of dust off his jeans. Hermione took notice of them and had to suppress a smile. They were completely muggle, and weren't too loose but still slim fitting, which of course looked very attractive. Any traces of a smile disappeared.

"I didn't realize that meant screaming like a g-"

"Guys." Blaise cut in, exasperated. The others were standing, staring at them. Well, Pansy was, Harry and Ron were glaring daggers at Draco.

She leaned away after realizing she'd leaned in and shook her hair out of her face. It was uncomfortably hot. _I wish I had a hair elastic. _She twisted her hair and pulled as much of it as she could onto one shoulder.

"Well, good morning to all of you!" James beamed, looking a bit strained. "A very _early_ morning, I should say."

"Oh James would you quit it!" Sheila said crossly, "It's part of the challenge!"

"I don't see why _the challenge _couldn't wait a few hours longer!" He protested and folded his arms across his chest. Hermione took that as a sign that they would be awhile and began to scrabble at her shoes' buckles until she got them off, listening to their tense argument.

"You're acting like a spoilt child! Of course, how would I know anyway, since we don't _have _one-"

"We're only twenty seven years old-"

"Twenty _eight_!"

"-we have time!"

"You know we got up at 5:30 this morning for you, so would you shut up?" Ron snapped grouchily. "This is supposed to be a summer _vacation_!"

Sheila smiled in a way that looked like she'd just had botox done and straightened out her shirt. "Yes. Anyways, if you would all put your bags into your cars, we have a location put into your GPS about a mile from here. We suggest you put on comfortable clothes and running shoes."

James looked at them all in their disheveled jeans, the girls' high heels –though Pansy seemed perfectly at ease in her pair, Hermione noticed bitterly- and the collared button up Draco was wearing. "Clothes you might want to, shall we say, _defend_ in."

'_Defend in…' What would we need to defend? Magic? Honor? Ourselves? _Hermione's musings were interrupted by Sheila.

"We encourage you to be there in at least twenty minutes, or certain penalties will be forced into play." Sheila's smile was completely fake and she took in a deep breathe. "Well, go on now!"

Hermione took off sprinting, her body at a stretched arms length from her suitcases and shoes as she dragged them over the parking lot cement. _This is a long parking lot! _She realized as she looked back halfway to her car and noticed the others following shortly behind her, though Draco and Blaise were at a more leisurely jog. "Come on!"

They sped up and with a huff of indignation she picked up her speed as well when they passed her. Finally, she arrived panting and gasping at their car. Draco – whose hair had a wonderful windswept look that made him look like a model – was breathing fine and engaging in a conversation with Blaise.

"I left a note at the desk to be delivered for Helga. With my phone number, and all that. I told her I would set up appointments and to call me, but there's been an emergency and I have to go."

She went around the side of the car with her bag and began to dig around in her bag for a hair elastic. The car was like a dry sauna. It encased her and she began to sweat profusely. She could almost feel her hair crackle and begin to rise until it was like a circular mane around her head. She waved her hand in front of her face in hope of cooling down.

The others got in the car and Blaise put the key in the ignition. She turned the radio on and then off almost immediately as, "we're on the road agaaain, oh on the road agaaaiiin again," filled the car.

"Merlin it's hot!" Blaise complained and rolled down all the windows. She nodded in agreement, feeling as though she couldn't use the effort to speak. "Don't we have to change clothes?"

She nodded again and dragged herself up. Wearing sweat pants had not been the best idea. She somehow opened the hatch to the back from the back seat and pulled out a pair of faded blue shorts and a light brown tank top – she didn't think she could manage a full shirt - moved back to the front. Muttering, 'thank God for muggle camps,' under her breath she changed into the other clothes without completely taking off the ones she was wearing so as not to show any skin.

"Nice talent." Blaise commented after she'd replaced her shirt.

"Muggle camp. Our counselor thought we might need to know it." She shrugged and proceeded to do her shorts, which wouldn't be nearly as difficult. She just had to pull them over her sweat pants and then slip the pants off her legs and pull them through her leg hole.

And then she realized that the shorts weren't the loosest kind, at least not when paired with the baggy pants. She began to undo them and the fastener – a sharp, half circle buckle that slid into a small silver attachment - caught on her pants. She tugged but it wouldn't budge. With an exasperated sigh she began to pull her pants up as high as she could, bunching up the leg through the leg hole in her shorts.

Then she tried getting the buckle out of her pants and pulled as hard as she could. She heard a tear and let out a small noise of triumph – only to find that she'd ripped the pants but they were still attached to her shorts. _Stupid, worthless pants! What kind of quality breaks at the smallest of pulls?_

With a frustrated sigh she began to push the pants down – but they were so bunch up she couldn't pull them up or push them past the leg hole in her shorts! _This is not happening! _She began to pull, tug and push them every which way in her desperation, but the only option she really had was to take them both off, which she would _not _do in front of the people watching.

Draco was laughing at her and she glared at him. "We're here." Blaise announced and climbed out. She bit her lip to keep from shouting something obscene and followed him in her bunched up pant and shorts ensemble.

To her annoyance, the stupid imbecile pulled off his pants with casual ease and replaced them with shorts. Draco did the same, right in the parking lot and she scowled. _I have more dignity then that! _

"Ready?" Blaise turned to her and couldn't hold back in laughter.

"Just a moment." She said with forced calmness and took out a second pair of shorts to replace inside. "Now lets go."

They met the other team by the door and Ron gaped at her. "Is that muggle fashion?"

Draco and Blaise roared with laughter at her flustered exclamation and she gave a tug of annoyance on the pants. "No, Ron, this is an example of cheap quality clothing!"

She opened the door forcefully and they filed in. At the 'washrooms' sign she veered right and hurried into a stall. With relief she pulled off her pants – with the shorts attached – and pulled on her new shorts.

With a smile she excited the cubical and left her pants in there. Someone else would find better use for them than her.

-

-

"I'm Sensei Joe." A large man with a black braid on his back grinned at them. He was about a head taller then Ron and had a muscular build – but not in a freakish way. His voice was naturally husky and deep and he had dark eyes.

Sheila beamed beside him and James shifted awkwardly, glancing at his muscles. They were standing in what appeared to be an old gym with two doors, the one they'd come from and one in the back. There was a large white circle in the middle of the room, near the door they'd come through.

"Today I'll be working with you – or fighting you, depends on if you get on my bad side – on self-defence. We're going to assume you've dropped your wand and have no magic. Listen to me, I know what I'm doing. Got it?" He looked around at them all and his eyes focused on Hermione.

"Hey, bushy girl, no tank tops! If you get thrown in an awkward position and your shirt shifts…well there'll be more exposure then you'd like. I don't want to go to therapy again."

She nodded, gulping and turned to run to their car and get a t-shirt. "No, Hermione, you must stay in the building."

She turned, horrified, to James. "I need another shirt, though."

"The doors are locked shut anyway." He said unhelpfully.

"But-"

"Here, Granger." She turned to Draco, who was pulling off his own shirt. Evidently he had chosen to wear two overlapped – why she couldn't imagine in this _heat _- and was giving her the top one. She was relieved that he'd been wearing it for a second, so it wasn't sweaty, and then flushed for a reason other than the heat when he almost pulled the second shirt off with the first, exposing his torso.

She took it gratefully and pulled it over her head. It was a bit long so she tied it at her waist with an extra hair elastic. "Thanks, Malfoy."

"The first thing I'm going to teach you is how to fall. NOW FALL!" Sensei Joe said before Draco could reply.

Surprised, she dropped to her knees and then fell backwards onto the blue mats they were standing on. The back of her head jarred the ground and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.

"NO." He said, shaking his head while they stood up. "This is how we do it. Stand up straight. Now squat until your butt is almost touching the floor. Fall backwards onto your butt and roll on your back. KEEP YOUR HEAD TUCKED INTO YOUR CHEST! Hit the floor with the rigid palms of your hands. SLAM THEM!"

He demonstrated with ease after they'd done one poor attempt. Then they began to copy his movements. It felt stiff, but she tried to make her body work the way it was supposed to and focused on making sure she didn't fold her legs first. Then he showed them how to do it sideways – the same concept except you fall to your side, keep the leg of the side not hitting the floor bent straight up and raise your left hand over your face – and began to drill them.

She began to regret wearing shorts, but the mats felt spelled so she wouldn't slap her legs – not to mention arms – on it.

"Acceptable." He said and gestured between them. "Get with your groups." They shuffled together, slightly apprehensive. Draco didn't appear to be enjoying the exercises and was working to keep a scowl off his face.

"Alright, so you have no magic. Only your body. Someone attacks you or harasses you, you can use equal or lesser force then they used! Not excessive use, equal or lesser! They punch you, you can use any limb - anything you have on your body! Headbutt, punch, kick, tackle – as long as it is equal or lesser force. They start beating on your with a slab of wood, can you grab a crowbar and hit them with it? YES!"

Draco, who didn't have a clue what a crowbar was, shifted towards her with a look of small confusion. It appeared that he was going to ask her a question, but he wasn't able to.

"Now, I need a volunteer. You! Blondie boy, come here." Draco sucked in a breath, so quietly only Hermione and Blaise could hear, and stepped forward. "Now, stand with your side parallel to them. Now grab the front of my shirt with your left hand and bring your right hand back like you're going to punch me. Hold the shirt tighter you sissy boy!"

And then in one, fluid motion Draco was flipped over and lay at the Sensei's feet, without so much as a gasp. Hermione blinked down at him on the ground and Sensei smirked.

"You didn't fall right. Guess you guys don't understand the concept. You two ladies, kneel across from each other. Blondie boy and green eyes, go. And you, ginger and mystery man, across."

It didn't take very long to figure out who was who, Harry was the only one with green eyes, Ron had ginger hair and Blaise was left over, so he was probably mystery man. She and Pansy looked at each other with slightly anxious expressions and then knelt down across from each other, legs from the knees up straight at a 90 degree angle.

"Now, one of you is going to push the other back. You are going to FALL PROPERLY, spring back up and push the other person. And so on. Blondie boy, you start. We'll see if you can get _something_ right."

Draco ground his teeth together and then shoved Harry, hard. Harry fell, slapping the ground and rolled back up to push Draco pretty easily. The blonde slammed the ground and rolled back up really fast. It looked very aggressive and hard, no doubt they were releasing some pent up anger with each other. Not to mention frustration.

"Good. Now, all of you GO!"

Pansy pushed her and she fell. With her head tucked she hit the ground and curled back into her original position. After a few she was able to do them with ease. A few more and her forearms were smarting. Several more and her abs were hurting.

Finally, when making it back up was difficult – for some reason the burning made them laugh - he told them to stop. "Can you do it _right_, now?"

They nodded quickly and he grinned a Chesire grin. "Good. Blondie boy, back here."

Perhaps it was fear or common sense, or a mixture of both, but Draco refrained from commenting on the 'blondie boy' name. "In position."

He clutched Joe's shirt and drew back his hand. She noticed it wasn't trembling, but he did look a bit…frightened. Then again, if she was in that position, staring into the dark eyes of Sensei Joe she wouldn't be completely calm either.

"First, step forward with your right leg around their right. Next, you grab them on this spot near the underside of their elbow that-" Draco hissed as his body bent down and backwards into Joe. He straightened up and then bent double again as Joe squeezed it. "It kicks in a reaction that makes them do this." He did it again and Draco, flushing from embarrassment twisted downwards. "Next, grab their shirt's shoulder and pull them in, HARD!" Draco came forward jerkily, "it's harder to kill you when you're close. Now, take your left leg, insert it right behind their right and pull while pushing them to the ground!"

Draco went slamming into the floor. He could only slap with one hand, as Joe held onto the other arm. "Always hold their arm; it keeps control in your hands. Once they're down, do what you need to keep them down. That whole, 'don't kick someone when they're down' philosophy is stupid. If it's your life or their ribcage KICK THEM WHEN THEY'RE DOWN! Then look around, make sure they don't have an accomplice and RUN!"

She began to wonder if the low huskiness in his voice was really a genetic thing, or just a result of all the yelling he was doing. It was quite a bit more then Mad-Eye Moody's 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE.'

They got back into partners and he walked them through the steps over and over again until they could all do it flawlessly. If they didn't do it with enough energy, he yelled fall and they had to drop. She was sweating from exertion and her abs burned. He walked around and pointed out their faults. He did stop, however, to exclaim with delight over Draco and Harry's enthusiasm when taking down their partner. She'd looked at them out of the corner of her eye to make sure no one was hurt and ended up winded on the ground, while Pansy tried not to laugh. She got tens falls for that.

After reviewing all the falls and doing the throws twice with their partner, they moved on to the next one. Draco 'volunteered' and Joe grinned a bit freakily at him as he slowly walked over to him.

"Grab my shirt with both hands and pull me to you." Draco pulled hard, either from remnant 'enthusiasm' from working with Harry or out of chagrin for the Sensei. He was sweating too and his hair was very messy, sticking up every way.

"There's a saying we use in this. Let – go – of – me - now, exclamation point." He told them and punched Draco's jaw with the front of his fist. "Let," Draco squeaked, though it hadn't been as hard as Joe could punch, obviously. "'Go' is a blunt hit with the bottom of your fist to the front of their face, 'of' is an elbow to the face," Draco closed his eyes, "'me' is when you grab the side of their face with one, clawed hand and snap it over here quickly," Draco's neck cracked and Hermione winced, though the blonde didn't seem to be in intense pain. "For now, you're going to grab their shoulders and pull their right shoulder to your right foot and their left to your left foot with turning their body clockwise." Draco fell. "And the exclamation point is when you kick them and then run."

He forced Draco to get up and then demonstrated the full speed of it. Hermione felt very sorry for Draco by the end, as bruises were already forming on his pale skin.

"Now, in partners."

The next forty five minutes were spent doing that throw and then learning the correct way to make a fist because theirs were horrible, apparently. Then they spent the next fifteen reviewing falling and the other throw while the Sensei prowled around and corrected every mistake they made, however miniscule. "NOTHING is miniscule in a fight for your life!" He yelled by Hermione's ear when she mentioned this to Pansy.

"Now, someone comes up behind you and wraps their hands around your neck." 'Blondie boy' didn't even need prompting, he just grabbed while looking disgruntled. "You get your hands on theirs and square your feet to theirs. As fast as you can, you try to touch your right hand to your left foot.

The Malfoy went soaring in an arc over Joe's shoulder and hit the floor with a bang. Miraculously he sprang back up.

"Good. This is where I'd come charging at you," he laughed evilly, "But I won't today. Now, change of partners. Blondie, you're with ginger. Bushy girl? Go with Mystery man. Green eyes, with baby girl."

She let Blaise throw her first and had a strange, airborne feeling of displacement when he threw her, though it was quickly jarred by her landing. When it was Blaise's turn to be thrown, she was a bit anxious as to how well she could get him over her shoulders, but on the second time he went flying.

Afterwards he had them line up with their left sides facing him. He showed them the proper stance, right foot forward, your left hand up at your face like a microphone and your right at your side like a telephone. His comparisons were lost on Ron, Draco, Blaise and Pansy but they quickly caught on. Then he showed them punches.

"JAB!" Jab was the microphone and "REVERSE" was the telephone.

"ELBOWS IN!" He bellowed and she corrected her arm positions. "FALL RIGHT!"

She grunted as she dragged herself back up and tried not to think of the pain she would be in the next day. Why did they need to learn self defense, anyway? Or was this 'lesson' of sorts a challenge to see who could get it the fastest? She worked harder and ignored the sweat soaking her borrowed shirt.

Then he told them to go for lunch and she thought they were the best words she'd ever heard. They scrambled over to a table in a corner with a plate of sandwiches and two pitchers of icy pumpkin juice and water. She ate hungrily and the ham and cheese felt like a gourmet meal.

"Merlin he hates me." Draco grumbled after checking to see if Joe was in the vicinity. "I'm going to be so bruised tomorrow. I'll bet my hair is atrocious."

She looked at him, with the bruises on him and his hair, messy beyond anything and had to avoid looking at Blaise to keep from laughing.

-

-

They were given twenty minutes, which was enough time for her to gorge herself on three sandwiches and several glasses full of water. Joe called them back and they did a thirty minute review.

"FALL RIGHT! JAB! REVERSE! JAB! JAB! REVERSE! RIGHT KICK! REVERSE! REVERSE!" He yelled as he paced in front of them and they kicked and punched. Thankfully, he didn't expect them to do it in unison.

Then they moved on to the throws and she was paired with Blaise again. Joe instructed them to incorporate the kicks, punches and throws all together with dodges and jumps.

"Alright. Sheila, James?" Joe called out and she turned as the pair strode towards them, looking immaculately dressed and clean.

"I think you'll be happy to know, all this work was in preparation for a challenge!" Sheila called out happily, clutching James' arm, their previous conflict seeming forgotten. "BOYS!"

Her indignant thoughts of was in _preparation_ for a challengewere silenced immediately as the back door opened and in trooped three men in complete black – with black belts, she noticed. "These are your opponents."

Sudden dread pooled in her stomach as James went on. "Each one of you will be individually set up against these three men and-"

"And me." Joe grinned viciously and Draco let out a quiet moan.

"You'll start on this circle," James gestured at the white taped circle on the ground. "As soon as someone grabs you, you're being timed. Your goal is to get to the back door and step through it. Then they'll stop coming after you."

She gulped as the distance to the back door seemed to grow rapidly. "Use as much as you've just learned as you can. Now, if you'll please get with your group."

She went to stand by Draco and Blaise, biting her lip. There was no way they could do this. Four trained black belts against three hours of training? The sandwiches felt hard in her stomach and she regretted so much water. All the men were completely massive.

"We're going to flip a coin to determine which group will start us off. Call it, please." Sheila threw up what Hermione assumed was a muggle coin.

"Tails." Harry said quickly.

"Heads." She nodded in assent.

"Heads it is." Sheila said happily and Joe looked at the men in black while everyone else turned to their group. "Who wants to go first?"

Hermione felt rather then heard or saw Draco and Blaise step back away from her. _Those dirty little traitors! Such cowards! _Joe turned back and saw her ahead of the others. "Good! Bushy girl's got courage."

She turned back to glare at the others for abandoning her. "C'mon bushy girl!"

She took a deep breath and stepped forwards. Her heart was racing wildly and it felt like all noise had been cut away from her. The others stepped back against the wall and she slowly walked into the circle, not daring to look at the door she had to get to. Say, by some miracle, she got to the door and opened it, only to have someone grab her while her back was turned?

"Alright. Okay if we put on a little music for more effects?" Sheila asked brightly and Hermione just nodded. Clearly she was enjoying this.

She tried to breathe evenly but found she couldn't. _I can do this. It won't be too hard. Just a few black belts is all. I'll live…hopefully…They can't possibly be black belts, its insane, how are we supposed to get away from them? Unless they're just pretending to freak us out… Yes, that must be right! It's silly to think they would do this to us; we could be seriously injured!_

However, she couldn't stop imagining the painful things they could do to her and was near hyperventilation by the time she was standing in the circle. It felt like every heartbeat was stretching her skin into the shape of her heart, causing a strange, blob like protrusion from her chest. She didn't need to look to see it was just a feeling. She closed her eyes and waited, her heart beating frantically in her chest.

For a second it was like complete peace, besides the feeling of dread circulating in her body, because she couldn't hear or see anyone. She realized she should probably be listening and bowed her head.

And then – someone wrapped their arms around her neck and tightened them, constricting her breath in the same instant the music turned on, blasting some sort of song that should accompany an action movie. She let out a choked gasp and she reached up with her own arms as her eyes flew open. Her naturally analytical mind took in her surroundings quickly and her instincts caught on, not knowledge of what they'd just learned. She kicked back with her leg and when she felt him loosening his grip she ripped them off her neck and pushed him away, onto the ground. She kicked him in the side and tried to sprint away, but he wasn't completely disabled and wrapped both arms around her left ankle, bringing her crashing down to the floor. _Always hold onto one arm! _Somehow, her rabid, OWL / NEWT preparing Hermione in her head managed to chastise her on that mistake.

She let out a loud grunt and tried to turn onto her back mid-fall, and landed painfully on her side. She kicked the guy holding her in the face and barely registered the crunch of a broken nose as she scrambled to her feet and ducked to avoid the punch aimed at her face from someone else.

She turned on the two advancing; the other was clutching his nose as it streamed with blood and looked very angry. _Where's Joe? _A part of her managed to wonder as she kicked Blackbelt 1 in the back of his calf while another jumped on top of her, dragging her to the floor.

She punched him in the gut and winced as her hand met hard muscle. He took her hands and pinned them by her head as he climbed on top of her and she began to panic. In the background she heard Stronger playing and it reminded her of the day they'd engaged in the car chase, and Draco had screamed wildly while she drove them away from the police…

She acted quickly and shrieked loudly and poor Blackbelt 2 – though she couldn't feel that much sympathy - was right near her face. He was struck dumb and covered his ears, flinching and she took that to dislodge him by bucking her hips and shoving him bodily off. There was no way a black belt would do that. Blackbelt 3 was coming straight for her and she was terrified by his sheer size. He grabbed the front of her shirt and her body kicked in. _Let – go –of – me – NOW! _She clawed his face and threw him down at her feet, making sure to hold onto his arm and kicked him soundly. _Exclamation point! Reverse! _

It was almost like she was teaching herself what to do as she began to name the punches and kicks and took out a very resilient 1. Reasonable thought left her mind as adrenaline took over. She let out a strange, war cry as she kicked 1 between his legs and then turned to punch 3 with a reverse.

2 came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, securing her own against her sides. She struggled to get loose, but she could hardly move. Something punctured the skin on her shoulder and she realized with horror that he'd had just _bit her_!

"That is disgusting!" She shouted and threw her head back so it hit his and he let out a cry of pain. "Do you have any idea how many germs are in your saliva! There are an estimated 700 species of commensal mouth bacteria in there! " The best thing about having big, bushy hair was that it had hardly hurt to hit his head. It was like a protective shield. If, say, a Frisbee flying swiftly towards her hit it, she would hardly feel it at all.

She kicked him between the legs as well and he dropped beside 1, who still hadn't gotten back up. 3 looked at his fallen comrades and somehow dodged around her kick and whipped her feet out from under her. _He is _not_ going to climb on me!_

She rolled out of his way as he made to jump on her and sprang to her feet. He grabbed her ankle and dragged her back down. Fatigue was beginning to make its way into her brain and she tried to shake it off, to focus on the adrenaline. She shook her ankle and his grip tightened.

"You're a stupid child!" He said, lip curling.

_That does it. _She gritted her teeth together and locked her legs, before turned right and jerking her legs left. "I am _not_ stupid and I am _not_ a child. Don't you dare insult my intelligence!" She sat up and smashed her feet into his hand. He cried out and she clambered to her feet. 2 was getting up, holding himself in his _area_ – _serves you right!_ – and Hermione ran forward, punching him in the face. 1 was still down on the ground and, before she could stop to think about it she was sprinting as fast as she could to the door, her arms pumping at her sides.

She heard a shout behind her and couldn't figure out if it was encouragement from those on the sidelines or anger from those pursuing her. Someone jumped down in front of her, as though he'd been holding onto the ceiling and she was confused. Weren't there only three of them?

She dodged out of the way and around him, but for the second time hands fastened around her neck and her breath was taken from her in a garbled gasp. She squared her feet, grabbed his hands and pulled with as much force as she could.

"SCREW YOU!" She yelled and didn't have time to feel ashamed at her outburst, because he deserved it! How dare he try and stop her! She was Hermione Granger, and if she wanted something, she would work to get it! He went flying over her shoulder and hit the door, before falling to rest at its base.

It was Sensei Joe.

"Oh God." She whispered, because he looked really angry. Almost deranged, actually. She looked behind her and saw, in half a second, the others stumbling after her. There was no other choice. Her arms were sore and tired and every part of her body felt bruised and full of lead.

Sucking in a deep breath and drawing on the last of her energy, she sprinted forward, right at Joe. He was crawling onto his knees, so her time was short. She let out a loud yell and jumped, throwing herself forward into the air. The force of her jump sent her sailing over Joe, who reached up a hand that almost closed around her leg and into the door, which flung open and she fell onto the pavement, groaning.

A second after pain she felt jubilation. She'd done it! She'd escaped! "YES!" She tried to get up and couldn't. All the strength in her body had dissipated, so she clutched the metal bars outside the door and heaved herself up, beaming.

She pulled herself through the door, relying on the strength of the wall to get through and came face to face with Sensei Joe. He glared at her and she glared back. There was no way she would back down after she'd won.

His glare changed into a nod of approval. "Congratulations."

She nodded back and hobbled over to the others, who were sitting on a platform that someone must have conjured. Harry and Ron came running over, looking worried and asked her about the condition of her bones. When they realized nothing was wrong they began to rave about how excellent it was.

"Joe went FLYING!" Ron said, gesturing wildly with his hands. "And then you yelled screw you! That was priceless."

"I think I'd like to sit down." She said, feeling a bit numb and they helped her over to the platform, where she sat down and chugged some water.

"Nice, Granger." Draco said offhandedly, a bit pale. "Feeling okay?"

"I'm okay." She said, smiling widely at him. "I've lost a lot of the feeling in my body, but it will come back."

"Good job, Hermione! Only eight minutes and twenty seven seconds!" Sheila exclaimed, "That was amazing!"

"Who's up next?" Joe called out and Draco stepped forward, his face a careful neutral.

Draco was pretty good. He beat her by a two minutes and thirteen seconds, but had a much harder time with Joe then she did. By the time he was done, he was quite bruised and looked like he might pass out from exhaustion. Nevertheless, he looked satisfied. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when he was done, but immediately felt worried again for Blaise. To the surprise of all, Blaise escaped in four minutes, forty three seconds. Though it could be because of his strategy. He kissed 1 right on the lips and then took him out using the first throw they'd done. Then he'd proceeded to grab the other two in inappropriate places until 2 finally shouted, "We're supposed to be the ones doing that to you!" Apparently his tactic was distract first, hurt later.

Then Blaise socked him in the jaw and ran to the door, dodging Joe completely by throwing himself sideways around the man and rolling into the door. Draco muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, 'man whore,' but gave him a one armed hug when he'd finished anyway.

Harry went first for the other team, and finished a few seconds earlier than Blaise. He was very quick when running so none of them could catch him and easily he got away from them. Ron beat Draco by a few seconds, though he had quite a bit of difficulty fending off the three men. Pansy however, took eleven minutes. She was so nervous that when someone touched her she screamed hysterically and more than half of her escape attempts failed.

Finally, they were done and they got to eat again, which was a relief because her appetite had come back in full force. Sheila and James had also decided to show them their challenges, so the screen (Charlotte, as James chuckled gaily) projected a large play by play account of their fights, with their teammates' reaction on one side and the fight on the other.

She found it quite strange to see herself on television, because it had such good quality it was like a muggle television show, except they got a bunch more feeds to add to the effect.

When someone choked her for the first time she flinched and then watched in bemusement as her ankle was caught and she grunted, before falling to the ground. At her first proper throw she felt a bubble of pride as she saw Joe nod in approval from the rafters, where he hid creepily for everyone. Of course, she was the only one who hadn't realized it.

She actually gaped when it got to the point of her screaming 'SCREW YOU' to Sensei Joe. It showed the people watching and Draco was gaping at her, Blaise was smiling a bit and Harry and Ron were gripping the edges of the stage and looked like they were trying not to go running out to her.

And then, as she prepared to jump over him she had the strangest expression on her face, a mixture of determination, amusement and a slightly delirious look of insanity. What she thought was just a loud yell turned out to sound like a deranged call of a mutant monkey.

She looked over at the rest and smiled to herself when she saw Draco gripping the side of the stage, too. "I'm alive." She told him and he froze, before peeling off his fingers and folding his arms over his chest.

"Unfortunately." He said coldly and then winced as she went crashing through the door. "I suppose I do like you better alive."

"What a miracle." She rolled her eyes at him and then cringed when Draco was tackled to the ground. He watched her for a minute and then turned away, grey eyes warm.

-

-

By the time they got back to the car, she was exhausted. It took a lot of her energy just to open the door to the car and crawl into the front seat. Her limbs felt like lead and her eyelids drooped, before fluttering back open quickly. She hadn't realized how little sleep she'd gotten the night before until now.

Draco took the wheel and started up the ignition, before saying in a sing-song voice, "hey Granger, seatbelt."

She sighed and shifted until she was sitting properly, before pulling the seatbelt over her torso and buckling it in. Not only did it hurt to touch most part of her skin, her limbs felt heavy, but the muscles also _ached_. When she leaned forwards to turn on the radio, her abs screamed in pain and she let out a pained grunt.

"Merlin my muscles are killing me." Blaise complained from the back. "Do you have any of that ointment left?"

"I think so. Check in my small bag, it's on the floor – yeah right there." Draco said quietly from the front and Blaise rolled onto the floor, and began to look through Draco's bag, tossing things this way and that.

"Thank Merlin." Blaise said and sighed blissfully, revealing a small, circular jar. "Do you want some?"

"Yes," Draco said scornfully, "obviously. But I'm driving so I'll get it later."

Blaise shrugged and turned to Hermione, who was watching through half-lidded eyes. "It's this ointment Draco's mother had made for him. Relaxes the muscles and stops pain; it works brilliantly. Just rub a bit onto wherever it hurts and-"

"Yes, please!" She said and he unscrewed the lid. The faint smell of vanilla floated to her nostrils and she bit back a laugh. Draco had it scented as vanilla? She rubbed it onto her arms, her neck, and then lifted her shirt a bit to put some on her abs.

Blaise accepted it back and she sighed as the relief from the ache took over. "This is good stuff."

"I know," Blaise said, stripping off his shirt carelessly. "I always used to nick it off him after Quidditch and the like."

She swallowed heavily as her eyes met his naked torso. Of course she'd seen glimpses of him without a shirt, countless times, but she'd never actually _seen_. And now, in her only half conscious mind took in his nearly unflawed coffee skin, save the scar just above his right hip bone. His pants were resting, buckled, on his hips and her eyes trailed down the hair speckled across him down to his… was that a… She almost gasped as she saw the stud decorating his right nipple.

_Oh my god. _She turned away quickly, flushing heavily. He was so…promiscuous and forthcoming! Did he realize what freaky girls everywhere could do with pictures of him as he was? And probably guys too! She shook her head to clear the low fuzz coming over her and grabbed her bag, which was still beside the front seat and she didn't have to look back at Blaise.

She opened her e-mail on the laptop she'd been given and was startled to find there were seven messages. All were from Jacob.

**To: Hermione**

**From: Guess who?**

**Subject: **_**None**_

**Time: 12:51 PM**

_Hey Hermione_

_So how is it going with the boys? It's quite boring over here. Andrea and whatshisname broke up, but she hasn't found someone new yet. Thank God. Actually, she spends a lot of time shut up in her room. Maybe she's going into withdrawal from not being with someone._

_So, I just want to talk… Your phone is off, so I've left a message. _

_Reply soon!_

_Jacob_

**To: Hermione**

**From: Guess who?**

**Subject: **_**None**_

**Time: 1:47PM**

_Hey Hermione_

_Are you really busy? Usually you can answer faster. Are the boys keeping you down? _

_Talk to you soon_

_Jacob_

**To: Hermione**

**From: Jacob**

**Subject: **_**None**_

**Time: 2:56 PM**

_Hey Hermione_

_Sorry to bother you again, it's just I'd really like to hear your voice and chat for a bit. Hopefully you get this message soon. I've left you another message on your phone._

_Jacob_

**To: Hermione**

**From: Jacob**

**Subject: **_**None**_

**Time: 6:38 PM**

_Hermione_

_I hope you don't see me as a clingy boyfriend now. It's just… forgive me for being too weird, but I really feel like seeing you would be reassuring. We are still meeting, yeah?_

_Jacob_

**To: Hermione**

**From: Jacob**

**Subject: **_**None**_

**Time: 8:23 AM**

_Hermione_

_Look, I'm getting really impatient. I need to talk to you. It's more important than whatever homework project you must be doing, please phone me! I can't wait around forever!_

_Jacob_

**To: Hermione**

**From: Jacob**

**Subject: **_**None**_

**Time: 8:39 AM**

_Hermione_

_I'm sorry, that last e-mail was impatient and pushy. I just find it difficult not to be able to talk to you right now, it is important; I'm not lying about that. Please phone me._

_Jacob_

**To: Hermione**

**From: Jacob**

**Subject: **_**None**_

**Time: 10:22 AM**

_Hermione_

_Just please tell me, are you avoiding me? If so, just know that THIS IS IMPORTANT! _

_Jacob_

_P.S. I'm sorry for clogging up your answering machine._

She stared at the screen for a minute and then deleted all his messages, before pulling out her cell phone. There were 17 messages, the subjects starting out calm and getting more and more agitated. She deleted them without listening. Why bother?

She looked up and choked when she saw Blaise sitting in the seat behind Draco, rubbing lotion onto his shoulders. The blonde looked very irritated, but wouldn't push him away because of the soothing effects of it. Blaise, on the other hand, had a big, mischievous grin on his face.

"Merlin Blaise, do you have to be so whore-ish?" Draco asked and the winced as the pressure on his neck increased. "Put a shirt on, will you? And that piercing is horrible. I can't believe you and Theodore actually had that done."

Blaise chuckled, "It was fun. Besides, I don't mind putting my hands to good use."

"I'm sure," Draco rolled his eyes. "You've forgotten that I have put up with your questionable characteristics and actions for the past few years."

Blaise shrugged. "Yeah, well, who cares if I shag half the planet?"

"I know someone who does." Draco muttered under his breath. "So, Granger, what's wrong with Jackson?"

"It's Jacob." She said, startled. She'd forgotten all about that as something hot and selfish pooled in her stomach. Jealousy. She cringed. But it was true, she had felt some sort of jealous feeling watching the easy companionship the two had. It was strange, but she would see Harry and Ron soon, she wouldn't feel so friendless. Surely, that's what it was? "Just making sure we are meeting."

Draco snorted. "How many times has he checked that?"

She couldn't deny that it bothered her a bit. "He's making sure my schedule hasn't changed. It's sweet."

Draco grumbled something about control freak boyfriends and Blaise replied with a dirty comment involving a control freak boyfriend, bondage and a chair. Draco slapped him on the head.

Her cell phone lay forgotten as they turned the conversation to the prize, who would they try and vote onto HOH? Since it was turned off, anyone who called would end up going straight to her now empty answering machine. So when a certain someone phoned, yet again, that's what happened.

"_Hey, Hermione, this is Jacob… again. About my last message… I don't really have a choice; they called me two days ago… You know that, right? Please call me."_

**Author's Note: I watched my first episode of Big Brother the other day, and then they went to decide the Head of Household and called it HOH and I almost died! Reviewers have compared it to that, but I didn't realize they had that similarity TOO! It was so strange! But it was monumental, seriously. Gave me some ideas…hehe.**

**Review review review**


	18. Spontaneous Singing

**Author's Note: Alrighty, here we are again!**

**Everyone, the whole idea of the challenge was inspired by Inner Self, who invented the thing that happens in the car. And chose the theme of it as well. Kudos to you! (Again, :D) Oh, and there is a code red near the beginning, that isn't the real incident! It was a solution to the Blaise-know-the-words thing. XD. Oh gosh, this is like talking in code!**

**I've read Breaking Dawn. If you haven't, I recommend not doing it and soiling your opinion of what used to be the greatest vampire love story saga and is now a trilogy with a horrible sequel book which failed epically.**

**Please don't hate me. This chapter is going to pass through **almost three days **because quite frankly the whole car thing has gone on much too long, and we all just want them back in the house. So it will probably be quite disjointed, and I apologize for that, but it had to be done.**

**Special thanks to Max Ride Fan 13 for being a brilliant beta and got this chapter back to me ASAP!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any musical groups or singers. The only thing I'm HAPPY not to own is the hideous disappointment that is Breaking Dawn. And the horrible knowledge that I am Stephenie Meyer. Yup. I'm happy not to own those!**

The next morning, Hermione felt refreshed, though there was a strange buzzing noise in her ears. She'd slept soundly, either because the two males had decided to let her sleep or they just couldn't wake her up. Sometimes when she was very tired, no matter how much you shook her she wouldn't wake up at odd hours. Her muscles were a bit stiff, but thanks to Draco's mother's lotion, they weren't that bad.

The only thing she would have liked more than anything was a shower. Her hair felt a bit tangled, and while she didn't really care how it looked, it felt like some sort of birds nest. Half her face was extremely hot and had the pattern of the seat on it. Her clothes were wrinkled and had the disgusting, yesterday-work-out feel to them, because none of them had had the time to change before they'd left.

It took her a second to clear her head and realize the buzzing was not, in fact, bees or just her brain being fuzzy. Blaise was humming a song that sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place. _He's got a nice hum. _He was also tapping a beat on the steering wheel, his head going with the rhythm.

"Awake?" He asked and stopped humming. "You sleep like a log."

Oh. So they didn't let her sleep.

"Some of us do like to do that." She said airily and sat up, rubbing her eyes blearily. They were on a dark road, surrounded by thick forest with tall trees and full leaves. There were no cars, animals or buildings in sight. "Where are we?"

"I dunno, but we've been driving on this same road for fifteen minutes." Blaise said, looking a bit creeped out.

"Oh." She really hoped that Sheila and James didn't plan on breaking down their car and making them fix it. There was an eery sort of silence following them and it made her shiver.

A bird chirped softly and she nearly jumped.

"Your bag has been making that noise all morning." Blaise said, glancing down between their seats. "Draco drove all night so you could sleep, so I'd shut it off before it finally wakes him up."

'"_Draco drove all night so you could sleep."' _She smiled a bit and looked back at him as he slept on the backseat, trying not to cringe at the bruises on him. He would probably want to sleep all day. She looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was only 7:35. The beeping was probably alerting her of a message on her phone. She hoped it wasn't Jacob again.

The thought made her feel guilty and her hands instinctively went for her bag. It took awhile, she had pens, paper, her wallet, iPod and cellphone in there, with a few candy wrappers, but eventually she got out her phone and flipped it open.

"Two new messages." The electronic voice said cheerfully. The first was from Jacob and the second was from Andrea.

'"_Hey, Hermione, this is Jacob… again. About my last message… I don't really have a choice; they called me two days ago… You know that, right? Please call me." _

The tone of his voice immediately caught her attention and she sat up straighter, listening. _I deleted his messages without listening! _She thought in disappointment, and then…_He didn't have a choice about what? What does he have to do?_

She went up to Andrea's, hoping it would enlighten her.

"_Hermione!" _Andrea cried out and her heart thudded anxiously in her chest. _"I had no idea this was coming, I'm SO sorry! He didn't even tell me until after he phoned you and…I know its just my brother…Please phone me back! It doesn't even matter when, midnight if you have to I know you're busy on that project and…"_

She was really worried now. What was so terrible involving Jacob? _Oh no! He's a drug dealer. That's what he is, and he's got caught up in a sham and they called to say he's being tracked, to be killed. That's why Andrea is distressed! He said he and Derek aren't friends anymore, because Derek wouldn't pay up for them!_

"Something wrong?" Blaise asked, turning down another bend.

"I don't know." She answered honestly, her mind running every which way. She hadn't seen Jacob in a long time. And they were supposed to meet tomorrow.

"Feel like a coffee or anything?" He looked over at her, "I'm hoping we'll reach civilization soon."

"I'd love some." She said, "I'd also love a shower."

"Me, too." Blaise was silent for a moment. "I wonder why we had to be gone from the house for so long. Isn't two weeks a bit long?"

"I've been thinking that, too. Maybe they need more time to clean everything up. They said they'll change it so that the people don't remember us being in the village…" She thought of Mike and Pam, wondering if they would get together soon. How strange, she'd only known them for a few days, but remembering them made her feel a bit sad.

"I'm sort of sick of driving." He said, sighing. "I would much rather be in that house than out here, nowhere."

"Me, too." She agreed, nodding. "The idea of being entertainment for other people has sort of grown on me to the point where I don't want to kill the cameras following us anymore." She shuddered, "But a few good things have come of it, so far."

"Yeah, I've had a few good shags." Blaise said, smirking smugly.

She rolled her eyes at him, a smile tugging on her lips. "I mean…well, I've hardly said two words to you before this show. But now…Well, we've talked."

He was silent for a moment. "Yeah. It was…nice, to know you, I guess. And Ron isn't bad, either. He's also sort of hot…"

"He's also sort of straight." She pointed, and didn't find any awkwardness in that statement, as one might if you weren't comfortable with the person you were talking to.

Blaise shrugged, "Right now."

She looked at him pointedly and he sighed. "Right, well I suppose I shouldn't give him a heart attack…I was planning on lying naked on his bed and then when he came in-"

She burst into laughter, because she could imagine the exact shade of red that Ron's face would flush, and then the loud, 'ARRRRGHH!' and his desperate escape from the room. "I don't think that's the best idea."

"Probably not." Blaise said, sighing mournfully. "Ah, well…"

"_And _I've learned self defense, so if anyone attacks me I'll be ready." She pointed off, ticking things off on her fingers. "I've been able to experience what its like to be a cat, and I think that sort of empathy could really inspire certain changes in the regulation and control of non-magic creatures."

"Yeah, that really is an advantage!" Blaise gushed sarcastically. "And, you also totally know the strategies of Truth or Dare, and how to play scavenger hunt, and how_ not_ to drive-"

"That was a fluke. I don't know what came over me." She said, slightly flushed. "I would never do it again."

Blaise went on, uncaring. "And, never to insult Jasper Hale – can I read that, by the way? He sounds really sexy – or you'll hit us on the head with a book. And you can convince anyone that you're a sex crazed psycho, and that as animals, we're all pretty strange, and you seem to fall a lot when you're around Draco. Like, wild falls where you lose complete control over yourself."

She flushed as he laughed at her expense. "Oh shut up. Those were all accidents, and were his fault, too."

How strange that Blaise would say something like that and have no idea that it applied to her in more than one way.

-

-

"Hm. I like this song." Blaise said a few hours later while Draco slumbered on in the back.

Hermione paused and listened, recognizing the interlude being sung. "Ah, I Kissed a Girl. It's Katy Perry."

"I like it." He repeated and they both listened in silence.

"Do you think that Helga might-"

"Shit!" Blaise exclaimed and for one moment she was gripped by terror, sure that he had just run someone over.

"What is it?" She asked loudly, gripping the armrests on her seat.

"I was listening to the words in the song, and your talking completely overlapped them! Now I don't know what she says." He complained, shooting her an annoyed look.

"That's all?" She asked dryly. He nodded and frowned at her, changing the motion to a head-shake.

"No, it's not _all_. Now the song is over."

"If it means that much to you, I'll print you off the lyrics." She said, rolling her eyes at his childishness.

"Fine." He replied, "And you can drive when you're done."

It was now 10:15, and she wondered when Draco was going to wake up. She looked back at him, but noticed Blaise watching her and didn't let her eyes dwell there. With quick ease she brought out her laptop, searched the lyrics and – frowned. They didn't have a printer. She told the problem to Blaise.

"Hm. Stupid muggle technology. To buy this, you have to have this and that and this and that because none of it works just on its own." He grumbled, "Fine. Can you copy it out for me?"

"No!" She answered indignantly. "Copy it out yourself!"

"Fine." He huffed (she couldn't tell if he was doing it mockingly or not) and pulled over the car. They switched spots and she adjusted herself and the seat. In a few minutes he discovered that he had the song on his iPod and leaned back, keeping it on repeat.

The black stretch of road continued on and she began to wonder where they were. There were so many trees and the path wound in different ways, so she couldn't see how near they were to the end. It was actually a bit creepy. Like a tunnel that never had an end.

When her phone rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Oh." She sighed in relief and embarrassment, before digging it from her bag and flipping it open. "Hello?"

"This is prerecorded." Sheila's voice said, "We've given you a designated stop for one hour. Sometime throughout this day you have to stop, or the car will shut down at 11:00 until midnight tonight.

She felt a thrill of relief. "Here," and handed it over to Blaise. He pressed the phone to his ear curiously and listened intently, before handing it back. She flipped it closed and checked the time. 10:32.

"I hope we reach a village soon," Hermione said, "Because we should be reaching the spot where Jacob and I meet at 12:30."

She felt a rush of anticipation flow through her. _I can finally get to the bottom of this stupid message thing…And thinking he's involved in some sort of drug scandal is ridiculous._

"I don't know what you could possibly see in him. He's an imbecile." Draco's voice said from the back and she was surprised that he was awake.

"You don't know him." She pointed out, a small smile tugging up the corners of her lips.

"His head is hideously deformed." Draco said, "It's much too big."

"His head is fine." She said with an amused chuckle.

"And he can't be very smart," Draco continued, "You say he's in university but all he does is phone you."

"Because he wants to talk to me." She said and had to force herself not to tell him about the message. "We're dating. As in, I care about him and he cares about me. I think he is justified in wanting to talk to me."

"I think his head is too big." Draco muttered, rolling over to face the back of the seat sullenly.

-

-

To their shared delight, they turned a corner about fifteen minutes later and were immediately encircled by office buildings, houses and shops. Draco sat up, running his fingers through his hair and grimacing as he grazed sensitive spots on his skin. She kept careful eyes on the road to make sure she didn't run anything over and to not look at the spots marring his pale skin while Blaise looked out the windows for an inn.

"Look!" He said suddenly, pointing. They all turned to a large hotel with the words 'Sana Mero' written on it.

"Perfect." She said, sighing with relief. They hastily got out of the car and grabbed their bags, before hurrying inside to the front desk.

"Hello, welcome to the Sana Mero hotel. What can I do for you?" The woman at the desk's smile faltered a bit when she took in their disheveled appearance; no doubt she was used to fancier dress, but then resumed her happy expression.

"We'd like to rent your least expensive room." She said, opening her purse.

"Alright. Single or double?"

"Whichever is available." She said as the woman began typing on her computer.

"How many nights will your stay be?"

"Just the one." She responded, glancing at the clock on the wall. 10:45. So they had until 11:45 before they were using up their own time again. A horrible thought struck her.

"Any affects you would like besides the initi-"

"Look," she leaned forward, "we're not even staying overnight. We just need to use a shower, so if you could put us down for something cheap, I'd appreciate it."

The woman looked mildly offended. "Alright. We have one for 100 pounds a night."

"We'll take it," Hermione said and paid as quickly as she could. "Thank you."

They took the key she offered and hurried to the elevator. Thankfully, it was otherwise empty and she relaxed a bit in it. "I'll go first, seeing as last time you used up all the water."

"I'm pretty sure this hotel should have better resources than that place." Draco said, but didn't argue.

As soon as she let them into the room she was in the bathroom, tearing off her clothes and turning on the water to heat up. The steam from the glass shower was seeping through and warming her up, making the task of brushing her hair less annoying. She only brushed it before and after she showered, otherwise it was pretty counterproductive.

With a sigh of relief she stepped into the water and began to lather her hands with vanilla strawberry body wash, washing herself. It was always so satisfying to get really clean.

But she didn't have time to dwell on life's frivolities, so she hurried through her shower, dried herself off and dragged off a pair of jean shorts and a charcoal tank top. After shoving all her things back into her bag she ran her brush through her hair and scrunched some leave-in-conditioner into her hair.

She'd used thirteen minutes of their time. While she could use another seven to make twenty, she decided not to because no doubt Draco wouldn't be able to restrain himself to only twenty minutes.

When she got out Blaise was lying, sprawled out on the bed and Draco sat casually on the couch beside it. "Oh, drat she's back." Blaise said, sighing mournfully.

"Thank you." She said sarcastically.

"No need to get offended, Granger. He was just trying to decide whether or not to go find another victim." Draco said, holding his arm out in front of him and frowning at it. The sleeve was rolled up to near shoulder, exposing purplish black bruises and a few yellowish green. Shaking his head he stood up and grabbed his bag.

"Twenty minutes!" Blaise called after him and rested his head back on the bag, smirking.

"Er…I just have to make a phone call." She told him and pulled her cell phone from her pocket. Turning her back on him she dialed the number.

"_Hello?"_ He answered after two rings and she heard the distinct noise of a car in the background. Her stomach did tiny flip flops.

"Hi, Jacob. It's Hermione." She said softly.

"_Hermione…hey."_

"Look, about us meeting up…"

"_Yeah?"_ He said, sounding quite depressed.

"Could you come an hour later? We got really stuck up in traffic and I won't be able to make it for twelve thirty." She heard the guilt in her voice.

"_Sure,"_ he was surprised. _"Yeah, that's fine. I'm just glad you want to see me at all."_

"Why wouldn't I?" She asked and mentally hit herself. She couldn't tell him that she deleted all his messages!

"_Well…message…wish it was different…to be upset…"_

"Jacob? You're breaking up, I can't hear you."

"_What…say I can't…"_

The line went dead and she sighed in frustration. Perhaps it was the forest on the other side of the city. It was so difficult, as soon as she and Jacob are together, they have to leave. They arrange to meet up on the way back, but they stopped to shower – though this sacrifice wasn't too bad. She didn't even know if they could afford to stop for more than ten minutes on the way back, because they needed to keep driving constantly. She should have thought about it before.

"Trouble?"

"I shouldn't have arranged to meet him." She said, "We haven't got time."

"Tell him we have a very important commitment or something. There's not much he can do about it." Blaise said and rolled over.

"Yeah, I guess." She said quietly. "Thanks."

Blaise shrugged. "Helga phoned."

"What?" Her problems zoomed out of her head and sat down on the spot Draco had vacated. "What did she say?"

"She was really mad that he'd left, but somehow set up an appointment for the day after we get back to the house." He said and bit his lip.

"How's Malfoy feeling?"

"He's pretending he doesn't care anymore. Started examining his bruises." Blaise looked at the direction the bathroom was and there was a silence only punctuated by the running water.

"He'll be OK. He's got you." She said quietly.

Blaise looked over at her. "And you."

-

-

"This is the spot." She said and parked the car in a small gravel lot. She recognized Jacob's car and her heart began to beat faster. "I'll…I'll see you in a few."

Before she got out she smiled at the sour faced Draco and frowning Blaise as they both looked at Jacob, leaning on his car and began to mutter rude things about him.

"Hey Hermione." He said, smiling warily at her and stepping forward.

"Jacob." She beamed and the sight of him drove all her worries about the message away. "How have you been?"

"Fine." He looked at her, eyes scanning her face. Apparently, he didn't see what he thought he would. "You?"

"I missed you." She came right up to him and he grinned at her, seeming momentarily appeased.

"Me, too." He reached out and tilted her chin upwards, slowing drawing his face down to hers and kissing her on the mouth.

She blinked at him, unsure of what exactly she was to do. Her lips were tingling and her stomach was flip flopping pleasantly. He drew back after a moment and smiled tentatively at her. Her first kiss…Not quite like she'd imagined it, but it was sweet and Jacob's lips were warm and he cared about her. She hadn't been expecting fireworks, or anything.

"So…about the message…"

"Yeah. Its fine." Her mouth betrayed her. "It doesn't matter."

"It doesn't? You're not angry?" He asked, the surprised look sliding back on. She felt a raindrop on her skin and wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"No, I'm not. But listen, Jacob…I haven't much time. We really have to get going. I thought we'd have more time, but…" She didn't much like the idea of saying goodbye again, but she would see him soon. Only a few days. "I'm really sorry you had to drive all the way out here."

"It was on the way." He said and shrugged, eyes still on her face. It was those eyes that prevented her from wondering what that sentence meant.

"Hm."

"So long do you have?"

She looked at the ground guiltily, "As short a reunion as we can manage."

"Oh." There was something indescribable in his tone and she wasn't sure how to feel about that. "So you should go now…?"

"Probably." She looked up into his eyes, melting a bit. "I…I'll see you soon?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, hopefully. I'll…I'll miss you, Hermione."

She really loved the way he said her name. It was soft and flowing, but still sort of caring in a low way. The kind of tone you could use for one word but described your feelings for someone.

"Bye, then." She said, smiling up at him half-heartedly. It seemed such a waste to have stopped to exchange a few words and then go. But it was raining lightly now and she didn't want to get too wet.

"Goodbye." He said, watching her intently. She smiled again and once she'd turned away it turned into a frown. She climbed into the back and sat down.

"That was fast." Draco commented and she shrugged. "And the kiss looked rather dull."

"It was nice." She said impatiently and leaned forward to see Jacob, who had his cell phone out. Her phone rang. _If this is him I will scream._

"_Hermione?"_ Andrea's voice said loudly as soon as she answered it. _"I'm so sorry! Oh my god I told him to tell me as soon as you'd talked and I-"_

"Andrea, what are you talking about?"

"_Jacob."_ She wailed, _"And the university!"_

It occurred to her that she'd temporarily forgotten that he'd said he had to do something. "What about it?"

There was a long silence_. "He told me that he left you a message."_

"Andrea, he'd left me about fifty messages!" Hermione exclaimed and eyed the two makes watching her. "I deleted them all!"

"_Oh. Oh God I didn't expect this."_ Andrea said, sounding close to tears. _"Oh God I'm sorry Hermione, but Jacob's gone!"_

"What do you mean?" She asked carefully as Blaise started up their car. She could hear rain drops falling loudly on their car and he turned on the windshield wipers.

"_The university called a few days ago and said they need Jacob back. They have this business person that wants to talk to him about an opportunity."_

"Oh." She said, a nervous feeling settling in her stomach. She knew the answer to her next question, but she had to ask. "When is he coming back?"

Draco's head snapped around to looked at her.

"_Hermione…he's not coming back."_ Andrea said softly, _"the business thing will take the rest of the summer, and then he's back at school."_

"Oh." She repeated, feeling dumb and stupid. A flush crept into her cheeks and her eyes prickled. "Okay."

"_He told me you didn't seem upset, but I just thought, well that's Hermione! You don't like to lose control very obviously I just…I'm sorry._"

"Its fine." She said in a high voice. "Look," it came out raspy and she cleared her throat. "Look, I have to go. Bye."

As Blaise pulled out of the drive she turned around on her knees to look out the back of the car, suddenly desperate to see Jacob's face again. The window was blurred with rain and showed very little, but a second after the wiper swept across she thought she could make out a lone figure getting into a car, and they whipped around the corner.

-

-

That night she offered to drive. The males took her up on it and so at 12:05 the next day she drove down silent streets in the dark. It was really the only way to have quiet time to think. She also thought better in the night. At the moment, she was feeling so stupid and ashamed she had tears pricking her eyes and a flush on her cheeks.

Jacob was gone. He was a university student and a muggle, involving herself with him had been a stupid idea, because they only had until the end of the summer and then they had to go back to school. Not to mention the fact that they were on a wizarding television show and had to do random challenges. It would never have worked.

And yet she still felt this deep ache in her chest when she thought about him. Everything about him really had been _ideal_. He'd been nice, and caring, and sweet, and intelligent and…

_Don't be an idiot, Hermione. _She shook her head, deciding to get lots of sleep the next day. Why else would she feel the urge to cry? Certainly not because she wasn't going to see Jacob in awhile. Certainly not because he'd been her first kiss and it had been such a disappointment. Certainly not because she'd really liked him, enough to cry over this. _Keep it together. _She ordered and pulled into a coffee shop.

After checking on Draco and Blaise, she climbed out and hurried inside. Somehow, it still managed to be extremely cold outside. She did like the cold. She liked when you pulled your sweater closer around your body, and when the tip of your nose felt slightly cold.

The door tinkled when she stepped inside and she smiled at the person behind the counter. "Hi. Can I have one large hot chocolate?"

"Sure." The man said tiredly and walked over to a machine on the left and picked up a cup. She looked around the shop and movement caught her eye. Draco's head was peering through the front of the car, raking a hand through his hair. "Whipped cream?"

"Yes, please." She said, turning back. "Sorry, but could I get a second?"

"Sure." He said and she smiled in thanks.

He put them on the counter. "Is that everything?"

"Erm…could I also have two cinnamon buns?"

"Sure thing." He put them into a bag. "Would you like them heated up?"

"No thanks." She said and he placed them on the counter. "That's it."

She paid quickly and juggled everything back to the car. Draco opened the door for her. "Thanks. Here."

He accepted it readily and sniffed it experimentally as she got in and put the key back in the ignition. She drove out of the lot and back onto the road. "Do you have a sleeping disorder?"

"Dunno. Could be you. Your brain is sending off weird transmittance." He said, pulling back the tab on his cup. "Ew. What's wrong with this?"

"Its whipped cream, Malfoy." She said, smiling slightly. "Just drink it."

"If I die…" He trailed off and brought it to his lips.

"You really tried to make that sound ominous, but it was really obvious you couldn't think of anything smart to say." She said and he laughed. The noise was nice, and she marveled at its unfamiliarity. She'd been in a car with him for almost two weeks and had never made him truly laugh. How strange. If she'd ever imagined how he laughed, it would probably be a bit more girly and high pitched. Instead, it was lower and had a deep roughness to it, but it was still smooth.

She was intrigued by how hard it was to describe. _Maybe I should try and get him to laugh more often. Just to hear it and find the words, of course._

"I don't understand you." Draco said thoughtfully, holding his drink close to his lips and watching the steam rise in a steady trail. It was stated as one would absentmindedly comment on how they'd slept, or the condition of some carefree aspect in their life.

"Do you even _want _to understand me?" She said back calmly, though her heart was speeding up quite rapidly.

"I'm not sure." He continued in the same airy tone, not looking at her. "Yes."

"What is it you want to know?" She asked, not as horribly adverse to the idea of letting Draco get to know her better as she might have been a few weeks ago.

"I don't know. Do you think I would know you better if you told me about your life, or the little things in your life that make you you?" He wondered and she felt impressed. That he could realize the difference was interesting.

Harry and Ron weren't stupid. Neither was Ginny. She didn't know anyone who was _truly_ stupid, or dumb. But none of them would think about something like that enough to realize the difference between what Draco had said. None of them were very interested in the sorts of things she was. They didn't understand the contentment of spending an afternoon in the library, just reading, studying or doing your work at your own pace.

"I'm not sure. We could just have a normal conversation, like normal people." She said, a smile stretching her lips.

"I don't think you're very normal, Granger."

She glanced at him. "Is that an insult?"

He didn't reply and she looked at him again. He was watching her solemnly. "Erm…Well, I suppose you're abnormal, too."

"Do you always try to make things you don't understand into jokes so you don't have to wonder if there was a deep meaning to them?" He asked and she sucked in a breath, giving him a startled look.

"Not always. Usually only when its you, because you never make sense." She said irritably. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to use your stupid 'powers of psychology' on me. I don't need you to read how I respond to people."

He was silent for a moment. "Sorry."

The tone of which he said it made her laugh. It was sulky, reminding her of a child who had their dessert taken. "I didn't realize you had so much fun doing it."

"You're an interesting person." He said, looking at her. She looked back and their eyes caught. The road was deserted and quite straight, so there really wasn't much need to keep her eyes constantly on the road. Had the moon not been shining through the window and casting planes and shadows on his face, she would have sworn he had sucked it through his eyes into his corneas.

For one breathless moment they stared at each other and she couldn't breath. The air around them sparkled with dust that was illuminated by the pale light shining through the window and the only thing punctuating the silence was the radio playing softly. _"Stop and stare…I think I'm moving but I go no where…I think I'm moving but I go no where…"_

Simultaneously they jerked their heads away and she took a deep breath, calming her heart as it beat frantically in her chest. How strange. _My emotions are so out of sorts from Jacob I can hardly think straight. Just fantastic. _She thought dryly.

"I like this song." Draco commented offhandedly, eyes flicking back and forth between the floor and him.

"Me too."

She turned down another drive and pulled a cinnamon bun from the bag and took a bite. It was already cold from being in the car, and the stickiness got on her fingers. She held the bag out for Draco and he took it out, ripped off a piece and ate it.

"No death threats?" She asked lightly. She felt slightly frightened to look at him and find him watching her but at the same time desperately wanted him to.

"I figure your taste in foods isn't lacking all that much." He replied. "S'good."

She nodded, looking at him from the corner of her eye. He was yawning and she yawned afterwards, which unfortunately let him know she'd been watching.

"I am so fucking tired." Draco sighed and rested his head back on the seat. "Night Granger."

"Good night, Malfoy." She said, smothering a giggle. When his breathing was even and his mouth fell open slightly she took the hot drink from his hand and placed it in a cup holder, leaving his food in his hand.

Unsurprisingly, it was not Jacob who occupied her thoughts for the remainder of the early morning.

"_Stop and stare… I think I'm moving but I go no where…Yeah I know that everyone gets scared…I'm becoming what I can't be…Oooh do you see what I see…?"_

-

-

Draco took over for her at 10:00 and she slept from that time to about 1:00 in the afternoon. When she awoke, it was to Draco avoiding her eyes, Blaise cackling evilly and her phone ringing. Blearily she grabbed her bag and scrabbled through all her stuff in there until her hand closed around the shiny, compact surface of her phone.

"Hello?" She asked, not bothering to check who was calling. Her throat felt scratchy and her eyes were hot. Sleeping in a car was not the best way to go.

"_Hermione? Its…Its Jacob."_

"Who?" She asked strangely as her brain worked to function.

There was a silence on the other end of the line. _"You don't have to be like that." _

Her mind comprehended who she was speaking to and anger, hurt and humiliation bubbled to the surface. "Jacob, you woke me up."

"_Oh."_ He said, guilty.

"Yes. I'm not being catty, but _please_. You have made it very clear where your priorities lie, Jacob." She said, looking down at her nails to avoid the two males now looking at her.

"_Hermione-"_

"Let me finish." She continued, letting her eyes slide to the window. "I obviously didn't expect you to pick me over your education, that would be ridiculous. I am angry, but I have a right to be so don't try to change my mind. Did you know there was a slight possibility that they might offer you this?"

"…_There was only a small, small chance. I never thought I'd really get it."_

"You shouldn't have pursued a relationship with me. If you knew there was a chance, chances are it would happen for you. You're good at what you do. If the roles had been reversed, and I did get involved with you, I would have laid everything out over the table." She heaved a sigh, massaging her temples in hopes that they might be attached to her tear ducts and stop possible flow. "But that's past. I'd just like to make it clear that I'd rather not talk to you anymore."

"_You can't be serious! This move could make my career-"_

"That's all nice and fine!" She snapped, losing her temper. "But I don't want to talk to you, alright Jacob? We would only have had some stupid summer fling, and I'm not interested anymore! So go back to your life, I've certainly already gone back to mine, and have a good one. I might see you again sometime."

"_Okay…See you, Hermione."_

"Maybe." She said tersely and sighed, because while it would be satisfying to just hang up on him and stay annoyed, she would regret ending it that was later. "Goodbye, Jacob."

She hung up and tossed the phone carelessly into her bag.

"I never liked him." Blaise said, glaring down at her bag, as thought his dislike could somehow reach Jacob by doing this. "He always seemed like such an arse. Stupid moron. So not good enough for you."

"And his head was enormously large." Draco added, "Probably because of all the deluded fluff in there."

It reminded her so much of Harry and Ron, or the protective older brothers she'd never had, or just made her laugh, whichever the reason she burst into hysterical half-laughter half-crying.

"Oh fuck." Blaise said, looking alarmed. "Way to go, Draco!"

She clapped a hand over her mouth and shut her eyes tightly, quickly wiping away her tears. The lack of oxygen quickly overcame her hysterics and she removed the hand, breathing deeply. "Thanks, you two."

"Er…no problem!" Blaise said, grinning widely and shooting Draco a looking in his eyes which clearly said I-don't-know-what-we-did-but-lets-never-do-it-again.

"I'm sorry. It's just…well…yeah. He knew he might get offered this business thing, but he still decided to go out with me and didn't tell me!" She frowned and leaned back against the seat.

"Stupid ponce."

"Well, if I really fancied someone and I knew we might not have much time I would still pursue them. I think that feelings of that sort make people get desperate." Draco stated, "As long as they knew what they were getting into."

"I don't think anyone who dates you will ever truly know what they're getting into." She said, chuckling dryly.

"Maybe." He shrugged and a subdued silence followed. Hermione took to staring at the floor and mulling silently over Jacob. Telling him not to talk to her was for the best. She could get over her feelings for him and move on from their week long relationship.

In fact, as unfortunate as it was to realize something like this, she didn't think many of her feelings had been a result of actually fancying him at that time. He'd been her first crush, so she'd thought herself in love with him at the time, and no doubt the strong feeling of loss was an attribute of that realization. _I've referred to the 'relationship' we had as ideal. Ideal? I don't think you're supposed to think of your boyfriend as ideal._

_Or it could be that I'm just not a good girlfriend. I don't know how to kiss, I have no experience whatsoever, I don't know how to act around him, I-I…This is so immature. Why should I dwell on these things? It's done, over. No need to think of it now._

Quite randomly Blaise cheered. She and Draco both jumped, but Blaise was oblivious to anything but his excitement. "Haha! Hermione, listen!"

She listened to the opening, strong beat of I Kissed a Girl. _'"This was never the way I planned. Not, my intention."' _She looked at Blaise in amusement, who was lip syncing to the words. _'"I got so brave, drink in hand. Lost my discretion."' _

He leaned towards her, holding his fist up to his mouth. For one wild moment she imagined he was getting into the stance Sensei Joe had shown them, but then he started singing. "Its not what, I'm used to. Just, wanna try you on."

He held his hand towards her lips. She knew exactly what he wanted and, through a smile, gave it to him. "I'm curi-ous for you."

He whipped it back to himself in a flash. "Caught, my attention! I kissed a girl and I liked it. The taste of her cherry chapstick."

She couldn't refrain anymore. It must have been her strange mood, after the Jacob confusion, and Draco the previous night, and now Blaise was singing in an obvious attempt to cheer her up and the beat from the song was so infectious. "I kissed a girl, just to try i-iit. I hope by boyfriend don't mind it."

"It felt so wrong." Blaise sang, to her amusement. Nevertheless, she leaned forward, resting a hand on Draco's seat to get the next line. "It felt so right."

"Don't mean I'm in love tonight." The dark male twisted in the seat so his neck was arched backwards for the next few sentences while she picked up a hairbrush from the ground. She wasn't sure whose it was, but there was no hair in it so it would work.

"No I don't even know you're name." Hermione got onto her knees and then stretched her legs upward, much like the position they'd been in when Sensei Joe had made them do the partner fall exercise. "It, doesn't matter."

"You're my experimental game, just, human nature." He flicked his hair from his face and licked his lips slowly, somehow still managing to sing the lines.

"It's not what," her competitive nature took over. Of course they weren't really winning anything, but she couldn't help it. "Good girls do," she ran a hand through her hair on the right side of her head, letting her head fall back and using her makeshift microphone tilted and moving lightly to the beat. "Not, how they should behave."

"My head gets, so confused." Blaise caught her eye and smirked, nodding.

"Hard to, obeeey." They both launched themselves forward – though not violently – and used Hermione's hairbrush a shared microphone, singing into it.

"I kissed a girl, and I liked i-iit. The taste of her cherry chapsitck." His hand overlapped hers on the microphone and, had she not been so focused on not laughing, she might have noticed Draco realize the same thing and frown. "I kissed a girl just to try i-it. I hope my boyfriend don't mind it."

"It felt so wrong."

"It felt so right." She answered and moved to the backseat again.

"Don't mean I'm in love tonight. I kissed a girl, and I liked i-it. I liked it." Blaise nodded in her direction again and she couldn't help but grin back in the time there was between the ending of the chorus and the beginning of the interlude.

"Us girls we are so magical. Soft skin, red lips, so kissable." She touched her collarbone, her lips and then blew a kiss. "Hard to resist so touchable." Draco's eyes nearly popped out of his head when she ran both hands down her sides. "Too good to, deny it. Ain't no big deal it's innoce-ent." She caught Draco watching her in the mirror and winked.

They launched into the chorus together, separating once again at the 'it felt so wrong' part. "I kissed a girl, and I liked it." Hermione finished and sat back against the seat, beaming. _That was so much fun! _

"Nice one." Blaise leaned back and dragged her into a hug, which shocked her for a second and then she smiled. "We should totally do a duet."

She laughed, "Thanks."

She sat back against the seat, pulling a copy of '_Pride and Prejudice' _from her bag, settling back to read. At the front, Draco watched her, biting his lip slightly. Then he glared at the radio, wishing, for some reason that it was on repeat.

Blaise watched sneakily, smirking.

-

-

It was only half and hour later that they got the phone call. She answered hers, putting it on speakerphone. Somehow, she knew what would happen.

"_Hello, Bloody Fuckers." _James said happily. _"We have a new challenge for you! Meet us at 12 Dunlop street. See you soon!"_

Blaise hurriedly punched the co-ordinates into the GPS and in about fifteen minutes they'd arrived. Unfortunately, it would seem that the other groups' route differed too greatly from their own, and they only got one half of Shame. _Technically, there should be an's' on Shame. _Hermione thought as they faced James. _But Shames sounds strange._

They were in what could only be a dance studio. The floors were wooden and glossy, the walls were covered in mirrors and there was a bar around three quarters of it. There was also a chair, a pole, a stool, a velvety chair with armrests and a table.

"Hello!" He said brightly, looking a bit harassed. "This is Marsha Banks," he pointed out a woman talking to another woman in the corner. She looked up at him when he spoke her name. She had severe black eyebrows and dark hair and was wearing a tight t-shirt vest ensemble with what looked like 50cotton 50spandex Capri pants. "And the other woman is Jacquelyn Vashen."

"Hello." She said pleasantly. Her hair was honey blond and up in a ponytail. She had one a pink t-shirt and grey sweatpants.

"Now, you may or may not be pleased to know that this challenge was inspired by Hermione and Blaise." He smiled, "so it's a singing challenge! Tomorrow evening you will be performing on a specially constructed stage in front of a specially chosen crowd!"

Despite part of her knowing, this part hadn't actively made it known. So she still felt waves of dread, nervousness, anticipation and determination wash over her.

"Marsha will be your choreographer, and Jacquelyn will be your singing coach. We will give you a choice of three songs to sing, and you must choose one. You also have to do a performance as a group, but you'll only practice the routine together tomorrow in the rehearsal. Make sure you know it. You each get two hours with Marsha and two hours with Jacquelyn, one for your song and the other song. The other two will be waiting through this door," he gestured at the studio. "You can stay in here until Hermione starts her routine. We're going to keep your routines a secret, so please refrain from trying to tell the Wizarding World about it. Now, Hermione?"

She stepped forward and he handed her a folder. "You get to start with Jacquelyn, first. Now, Marsha has decided that unless you know your song inside and out, she will not teach you the routine." _Ah. So that's why he looks so annoyed. _"So make yourselves comfortable. You'll be here for eight hours."

_Great. So we'll be here until at least 10:00._ She looked back at Draco and Blaise, both of whom and thrown themselves onto couches that seemed to be designed for parents to watch their children.

"See you, Granger." Draco said, laid out with disheveled grace, one leg hanging off the side and the other bent at the knee on the couch.

"See you." She said, and Jacquelyn smiled.

"Hermione, is it?"

"Yes."

"Excellent." She led her through a door in the back corner and into a small room with a black, grand piano in it. "So, your song choices are just inside there. Do you play any instruments?"

"No," she replied and opened the folder, pulling out three sheets of music. _Bleeding Love _by _Leona Lewis_, _Dancing Queen _by _Abba _and _I Kissed a Girl _by _Katy Perry_.

She held up the file, smiling. "I'll do this one, if it's OK?"

"Sure thing. I've never heard it." Jacquelyn smiled and took the music, eyes skimming its contents. "Oh, it sounds nice, though. I like it. Its got a strong beat, yeah?"

She nodded. One of the reasons she'd given up on piano(before Hogwarts) was that her teacher always looked at the music and could hear it in his head, making him look superior and her look stupid when she struggled over the notes. Plus, she found that playing it wasn't as nice as listening.

"OK, so…I don't think this will convert very well to piano." She sat down on the bench and quickly played the song at a too fast tempo, but still perfectly. "Hm…Sounds a bit weird. I also don't think a drum kit would work very well…Do you think you can try it with piano? I wish we had a live band but there's not room…"

"Sure," she said easily. She didn't want to inconvenience the woman any more than necessary.

"M'kay. So we'll run it through once and I'll make notes on certain parts. Just sing it as you would if you were, say, listening to it on the radio. And come stand over here so you can read the music."

"OK." She said, nodding slightly and moving as directed.

"Good." Her fingers began to glide across the keys. It did sound very, very strange, but there wasn't much time to dwell on it and she launched into her best variation of the song. The results were very surprising; hearing yourself sing accompanied is quite flattering. It adds richness to your voice.

"Good." Jacquelyn was nodding and looking at Hermione even before the end of the run through. "OK, so we're going to work on your breathing first, because it is so important to use the diaphragm. You can't take deep, gasping breathes at different intervals when your lack of oxygen has already altered your tone quality."

Hermione's brain immediately shifted into the avid sponge-like way it was while she was in class and she began to work. Singing was harder than she'd expected…

-

-

"Thanks very much." Hermione said, holding out her hand to shake Jacquelyn's an hour later. "This has really helped me a lot."

"Oh, don't be silly." The woman dragged her into a hug. "Remember to breathe! Breathing is the most important thing! Practice those warm-ups. We didn't have enough time to really do a good one, I just had you run through the song as it."

"Thanks again." The brunette said sincerely. Her throat felt a bit hoarse, Jacquelyn certainly had not been easy on her but it would help her so much to be prepared for the next day. It was more than a little nerve racking to think of all those people, watching her sing and attempt the choreographer Marsha would teach her…

"Sure. Send in Blaise, please?"

With one last smile she exited the room, folder in hand. Her chances of performing Leona Lewis were so out there, and Abba was classic; she would ruin them. Katy Perry, at least, gave her a moderate chance. "Blaise?"

Blaise looked up from his perch and yawned, stretching his limbs. "I'm tired."

She shrugged and jumped as someone snapped her name. "Yes?" She whirled around.

"No time for chatter." Marsha said impatiently, tapping her foot. "I have waited long enough! What song?"

"Er, I Kissed a Girl by Kat-"

"Good. Now, come here. We must start right now." With a forcefulness that reminded her of Joe she was dragged over to the velvety chair. "You will start like this!"

Marsha sat in the chair, swung her legs over one armrest, let one hand call over the back of it and the other went onto its elbow, propped on the other armrest. A few seconds after Hermione was able to take in this scene, the woman was up and off the chair. "Now, go sit."

There were some people you just don't question. Professor McGonagall was one of those people – Hermione respected authority, but if there had been a solid reason, she could question almost all of them – and so, as she could easily see, was Marsha. So she hurried onto the chair, trying not to look at Draco as he watched her from his own chair.

"No! Back straight! Don't slouch, are you stupid? Straighten it,_ now_!"

She bit her tongue and did as was told.

-

-

Because Shame had given them permission to 'use magic in the form of a silencing charm, so you can practice singing without killing anyone,' she spent most of the night in the comfort – and also annoying – bubble of silence or singing. Most of the time, they would all practice at once, so she supposed she should be grateful, but it irritated her to know that the next day she would have to perform to the best of her ability. The questionable part about that was the 'best of her ability' part. She could carry a tune, yes, but her voice in itself wasn't spectacular, so most of her hope was lying in how good her performance was. And it involved dancing and looking confident, also not her strong point.

Shaking her head, she tried to focus on getting the notes right and doing the limited movement she could – the Confession Box had enough room for her to stand up, so if she took very, very small steps in the place of large ones and under accentuated all movements, she could practice successfully. One breakdown had been embarrassing enough, despite the fact that only Marsha had been there, and she hadn't seemed too annoyed by it.

If only she knew what the next few days would bring.

**Author's Note: I was originally going to go straight through the performances, but it would have made it **_**too**_** long. Much much too long. Plus, tomorrow (1st) I start school and I wanted to have this finished by the time I start grade ten! I don't have to go until halfway through the day, though, because our school was hit by lightning so the air conditioners went bust, and then the people who came to fix it prevented the teachers from getting inside in time, so they need a few hours tomorrow to prepare themselves. XD.**

**I have a poll up for this story, in case no one knows. I can't remember if I've mentioned it already.**

**IMPORTANT: OK, so I think it is fairly safe to assume most people regard this story as at least somewhat humorous and not too serious with the whole Voldemort situation. Which brings a problem into the factor. I've already had Voldemort and the Horcruxes mentioned in prior chapters, so I'm wondering… **

_Would anyone be bothered if I took out those mentions and replace them with hints that Voldemort is keeping a low profile, possibly in hopes of developing a plan?_

**Cliché? Yes. But there just isn't a way to incorporate him in this story, and it wouldn't make much sense with the tone I've set. I wouldn't say this story is just happy go lucky humor with no real depth, or at least I hope not, but when I added those few sentences, way back, I didn't think about it. (Mostly because I don't think I've ever written anything funny in my life.) I have no problems taking him out and had no plans even involving him, there just had to be the lunatic idea of putting them in a house right near Voldemort's fathers' town, and the fact that he is still out there, just not in full I-shall-hijack-the-show-and-murder-everyone-on-it-who's-laughing-now-,-moron! way. Please be honest. If you think removing him is a cheapskate, easy way because I'm too stupid to figure something out, I really do want to know!**

**Because it would be inconvenient for those of you who would actually want to listen to the songs they sing while you read their performance to try and download them while you're reading the chapter, I've decided to list them here, in playlist form. As in, this is the order of the songs. Hm…See if you can guess who sings what? **

**It's My Life – Bon Jovie**

**Pocket Full of Sunshine – Natasha Bedingfield**

**Light Up the Sky – Yellowcard**

**I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry**

**Vindicated – Dashboard Confessionals**

**Gay Bar – Electric Six**

**Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake**

**Stop and Stare – One Republic**

**We Might As Well Be Strangers – Keane**

**Review review review! **


	19. Sexy Back

**Author's Note: My semester is awful. In case anyone is interested. On the bright side, I'm totally in love with Dan from Big Brother! Go Dan! Also, in regards to the song Gay Bar I have heard a version with a verse about money, but the one I downloaded did not include that verse, so it is not included in the performance.**

**OK, this chapter is dedicated to cemicool, whose review was quite funny and caused me hysterical laughter, as I totally agreed with her!**

**Here's the clip,**

'_Poor thing about Jacob but i couldn't care less cause hah! This is a Dramione and Jacob can go die with renesmee :D (who was, btw, SUCH a horrible plot bunny. eugh breaking dawn so ruined my twilight haze)__**'**_

**Here are the results for who you think the songs are going to be sung by. **_**As well, this is the actual order of the songs, as it has changed since the last chapter.**_

**Gay Bar – Blaise (5)  
Sexy Back – Draco (3) Blaise (1)  
Pocket Full of Sunshine – Ron (1) Pansy (3)  
Light Up the Sky – Ron (1)  
Its My Life – Harry (3) Ron (1)**  
**I Kissed a Girl – Hermione **  
**Vindicated – Draco (1)**  
**We Might As Well Be Strangers – Ron (1)  
Stop and Stare – Draco (6) Harry (1)**

**Disclaimer: I'm not sure J.K Rowling really ever had the events in the coming chapter planned or even imagined them, they are so not canon. So I just use her people for my own satisfaction. Haha. I also don't own any music groups or lyrics.**

Hermione had always known there was an extent a person could take before they went crazy and started screaming. She knew that there was a reason people had to go to therapy, endure anger management classes and estranged people with their natural anti-social behavior and depression. She'd always imagined (she didn't think about these things regularly, but if she pondered over it) that after the one turning point, the person would become completely irrational and would, as was the common phrase, crack.

So why, after glancing at Draco as he slept in the passenger seat for the umpteenth time, had she not gone off shrieking and wailing? Why hadn't she had a mental breakdown (a big one, not just the small period where her emotions got the best of her the previous day) and collapsed? Obviously if she was so eager to feed her mind with images of Draco (no matter how soft, peaceful, delicate and beautiful those images were, though she would deny this in her head) and didn't cringe at the sight of him, she was insane. Gone. She'd cracked.

Except she didn't _feel _different. She felt as well as she usually had, albeit quite tired and bit more fond of Draco than she'd definitely been before they left the house. But that was inevitable, right? Anger at what had happened, reluctant acceptance, and then what feelings would develop would take over. She was sure Ron and Harry were getting along with Pansy better in any case.

It was probably because she kept driving the overnight shifts.

_Earlier…_

"You complete _imbecile_!" Pansy yelled, punching Ron on the arm. "Are you stupid? How did you do this?"

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair as the redhead dodged away from Pansy's blows. "He didn't do anything."

"So what's the problem?" Pansy asked furiously.

"We're out of gas." Harry explained, staring at the car and then town they could see about a mile away. With no incoming or out coming traffic that they could see. "Meaning, the car won't work until we push it there."

"You're joking." Pansy said after a moment's silence, looking back and forth between their destination and their position.

"Nope." Harry said, looking tired. "So we may as well start now."

"No. Who knows how long that could take! Can't we wait for someone to come by?" Ron asked, staring in disbelief at the car.

"Who knows how long that could take?" Pansy said mockingly, "Ugh. Fine. Start pushing, then."

"You have to help," Ron told her, frowning.

"No, I don't. I'm delicate, unlike you two. You can do the grunt work, I'll look pretty so some guy can save us on the off chance that he goes by." She smiled snottily at them and strode a few meters forward, before stopping and placing her hands on her hips. "Shall we?"

"Come on," Harry sighed, tugging Ron's arm and they both walked behind the car, lining themselves up on either side of the back. "On three, alright? One…two…three."

They pushed, muscles straining, and moved about a centimeter. Harry gritted his teeth, shoving his entire weight – which, incidentally, wasn't much – into the push. It barely moved. They both fell back, panting and Harry shook his head. "This won't work. We have to wait until someone comes and helps us. If all else fails, I guess an hour of this counts as our hour towards stopping."

Ron moaned. "Great."

"Don't worry, I've got this covered." Pansy said, tossing her hair and throwing up her arm. "STOP!"

The big car that had been driving (one that Harry and Ron had evidently not noticed in their fruitless efforts of physical labor) screeched to a halt and, after a moment, two men stepped out. They appeared to be in their late twenties or early thirties and were dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts. "You need help?"

Harry couldn't help but become suspicious; who stopped and got out of their car to help people on the road anymore? The answer became very clear when Pansy giggled slightly and twisted her hair around a finger. "Would you? Thank God! These are my two brothers." She gestured at them, "Most of what they say doesn't make much sense, they're a bit…." She waved her finger in circles around her head.

"I'm not crazy!" Ron yelled, his face turning so red the men didn't question whether he was or not, most likely from fear.

"Do you have any spare gas?" She asked, "We just need to get to town."

"Sure," the first man said a bit stupidly. "Just a sec."

They walked around to the back of the car and Pansy gave them the thumbs up. Harry grinned back, but Ron just scowled, face sulky. The second man came back around a minute or so later with a large bottle in hand. Looking a bit pompous, he took of the cap to the gas tank and filled it, leaning against the car. With aplomb he popped the cap back on, screwed the lid onto the bottle in hand and smiled lazily, running a hand through his hair and effectively putting oil in it.

"Gosh, thanks so much." Pansy said, somewhat sarcastic. When the men didn't move, she resumed her snotty tone. "Do you need something? When you stand there like that, it looks creepy."

With a disparaging look she strutted over to the driver's seat, slid in and waited until Harry and Ron followed her before starting up the engine. As they pulled past the two men, Harry and Pansy high fived.

Ron flipped him off out the back window and his teammates laughed. "All in a day's work." Pansy said flippantly. Ron grinned at her, his bad mood forgotten.

-

-

"I think this is it." Hermione said from the driver's seat. The building she had turned into was quite large looking with a brightly colored neon sign reading, 'The Flaming Cobra' and made of dark purple brick. She recognized it as the highly reputed wizard lounge with high ranking performances.

"Oh, God." Draco said in a strangled voice beside her.

She looked over at him and saw that his face was drawn in nervousness. "You'll be fine," she assured him. "No one can possibly expect us to be fantastic."

"I suppose." He glanced quickly at her. "That's not exactly why I'm nervous."

She looked quizzically at him but he just shrugged and opened his door. Blaise smirked slightly and shrugged at her as well, sliding open the door and Hermione followed suit.

They got out their bags (Hermione took down the Bloody Fuckers sign from their Confession Box and brought it, too) and hurriedly dragged them up the front door and through. There was a small lobby with wooden floors and light purple walls. Just inside were Sheila and James.

And they were alone.

"Congratulations on being the first ones here!" James said, beaming.

"Yes!" Blaise crowed and pulled Hermione and Draco into one armed hugs. They were all grinning with happiness at their success.

"You can hurry down and take the first door on the left, that will be your dressing room. Check out your clothing and such, eat something and get ready for the dress rehearsal. We'll send someone for you when we're ready."

Wide smile firmly fixed on her face Hermione led her group down the small purple hallway and hung up their sign on the tack protruding from the door. After surveying it with satisfaction, they walked inside and the colors changed drastically. She blinked at the pale blue walls. Three chairs stood in front of dresser like tables with large mirrors perched on top. In front of each was a chair with a cloth seat and their name written on the back. There was a small door to the left of the room. In the center were two small couches and a glass coffee table in front with wooden legs. On top was an assorted array of food.

With interest she walked over to the chair labeled with her name. Two plastic casings on hangers were on her mirror and she unzipped them, taking in the outfits and the shoes underneath. Excitement bubbled within her.

Blaise and Draco similarly looked through theirs and, after several excited exclamations they sat down to eat.

It was going to be so much fun.

-

-

They did dress rehearsal half an hour later, but everyone except the performer or group had to wait in the back so as not to ruin the surprise of the song. They wore plainer versions of their clothes to avoid any unwanted rips but still make sure they knew the feeling of the cloth.

As she'd expected, rehearsing as a group had been quite fun. It was a bit nerve wracking because Jacquelyn and Marsha were sitting around one of the large circular tables in the room, making sure they all did it properly. Surprisingly, she found the hardest thing wasn't looking at her group members in interest at what they were doing, but not laughing out loud when she saw some of the more humorous parts.

She, Harry and Ron had a small chat before she was ushered away earlier than the others. Blaise, who'd asked anyone if they had paper, was still scribbling away in her diary (no one else had had any and she hadn't even used it yet) and she decided asking for it back would probably not be appropriate. Draco mouthed the words to his song, moving his head to the beat.

She'd been told to shower and then let the specialists take over from there. She sat in the chair the five people surrounding her watched her, lips pressed together. "We can work with this." Said a woman, finally, and began issuing instructions.

After what felt like a short period of time but must have been longer – her fingernails had been done, her hair was dry, her face was covered in a moisturizer and her toes were being covered in polish – Draco came through, took a shower and then Blaise followed.

When she looked semi-normal – meaning that her hair was a mass of fuzz, as it always was after coming in contact with a hair dryer – the people who'd been working on her beamed, exchanged compliments and left. After forcing her into her first outfit, the one for her group performance, three new people plunged into the task of her hair with enthusiasm.

After everything was done, she was left alone with her team. Blaise and Draco were both leaning back into their chairs, nearly bouncing with excitement. Or nerves, it was hard to tell. They looked over at her and grinned nervously.

"You two look great." She said, smiling back. After they'd both turned to each other she stood up to get a full-length look in the mirror. Her hair was in waves – the result of being straightened, straightened again and then curled – and her eyes were glittery and red. She had an emerald green sweater on that only came down a few inches above her belly button and had a swirling white design on the hood to the front of her chest. Underneath – it was partially zipped up – they'd given her a full length purple tank top. The skirt was snug around her hips and fell two inches or so above her knees. It was also green and pleated. Her shoes consisted of mid-calf length fake leather – which was good, because she would have refused the real kind – and they weren't as tall as the stilettos she'd had the unfortunate experiences of wearing.

Draco and Blaise were dressed similarly. They had on slim jeans and hooded sweatshirts – theirs were full length – with the same white design as hers. Draco and Blaise's were black and silver, as were their colors as assigned in the house, which created interesting effects. Their hair was arranged in a casual yet sexy way. With bemusement, Hermione realized that it always looked that way and was not the result of the people who'd been dressing them.

Someone knocked on the door and she jumped, before turning and following the man out the door. He spoke into a walkie talkie and she tried not to fiddle with her skirt. They were led down the slight stretch of hallway and through a door at the end. The Pansy Pickers were just inside and Pansy was practically giddy with excitement. "Hello!"

Hermione blinked, just as she had when they'd walked into her dressing room, but it wasn't because of an abrupt change in color. Pansy's pants were tighter than she had ever seen anyone wear in her life and when she moved it sparkled like a thousand diamonds. Her shirt was navy blue, loose on top and had a tight band where it met her pants. Harry and Ron had pants of the same material that were a bit snugger than she knew either were very comfortable with and open collared shirts. Harry's was red and Ron's was gold. The latter's hair was spiked messily with gel that sparkled a bit, as did Harry's, though it looked like any attempts to arrange his hair had failed.

"You look great!" Pansy continued without waiting for a response. "You guys, too."

"Are you nervous?" Ron asked her.

"I'm not quite sure, actually." She replied, which was true. She had _thought _that by this time she would be a nervous wreck, but instead she felt bubbling anticipation and slight excitement. "You?"

"Yeah. Look," Ron pointed to a large white bristol board that listed their names in the order of appearance. The first name was 'The Pansy Pickers.'

"The Weird Sisters?" She asked in surprise after scanning it.

"Yeah. Apparently we have a twenty minute break after the group performances for us. They're filling the time." Harry said and flattened his hair nervously. It sprang back easily.

"They're _filling time_?" She repeated. The wording implied that they were just there to provide entertainment while _they_ couldn't.

"Yeah…Apparently, this show has become much more popular than any of us think." Ron let the words sink in, before continuing. "Nice outfit."

"Thanks," she replied and watched his pants sparkle. "You look…bright."

Before he could respond someone stuck their head around what she'd previously thought was the wall intersecting the curtain. "Follow me, if you will."

They did, with smiles popping up and fading in flashes. He led them onto the stage – the curtain was closed – and across to the other side. There was a sort of lounge with an orb projecting the image of the stage and scanning the audience. They had a very nice view of where the performers would be.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, pointing, "They're mostly Hogwarts students!"

"I just saw Ginny." Ron said thoughtfully and Harry's head shot up.

"Is that Millicent?" Pansy asked as Draco murmured, "There's Theodore."

"Look, Dean!" Harry pointed, "And Seamus."

"Is that _Longbottom_?" Pansy asked in surprise.

They crowded around the projection, pointing out faces they knew until James waltzed over. "Hello! How are you all doing?"

"Good!" Hermione said cheerfully and Sheila beamed at her.

"So, the Pansy Pickers, if you will come out with us to the front." Shame ushered them through as the three exchanged anxious glances.

"Good luck." Blaise said quietly as they left and then the three sat down.

"Welcome to the Flaming Cobra!" Sheila called out as she and the Pansy Pickers slid in front of the curtains, to loud cheers. "We are your hosts Sheila-"

"And James! We're thrilled to have such a nice crowd!" James said, almost looking more excited than the audience.

"WE LOVE HARRY POTTER!" A chorus of high screams followed.

Almost.

"First on our line-up is the Pansy Pickers!" Sheila announced, "Pansy, Harry and Ron are here with us and do they look excited or what!?"

"Then we've got the Bloody Fuckers, the Weird Sisters and _solos_! After each performance, we'll show you some of the work they did on the songs, but not before so we don't ruin the song! If the Pansy Pickers would find their places."

The three friends moved back and the two males climbed onto the table. Harry stood up tall in the center, Ron was at his side with his arm resting on Harry's shoulder and Pansy stood in front, her hands on the table and legs shoulder width apart.

"Without further ado…THE PANSY PICKERS!"

A familiar guitar solo started up the music from the small pit where the band that would accompany them rested, but before Hermione's mind could place it they had started and the curtains were pulled back.

"You," Harry pointed into the audience and shrugged off Ron's arm. "I wanna take you to a gay bar. I wanna take you to a gay bar. I wanna take you to a gaybar," he swung his hips to the left, "gay bar," then to the left, "gay bar!" Back to the right.

"I'd go with him." Blaise muttered beside her and she grinned.

"Let's start a war." Ron stepped forward and Harry slipped off the table. "Start a nuclear war. At the gay bar," he mirrored Harry's movements, "gay bar, gay bar. Wow!" He let out a scream like noise on the word 'wow' and followed Harry off the table, leaving Pansy as the center of attention.

Pansy was moving her shoulders back and forth in a way that made Hermione want to burst into laughter, mostly because of some of males' faces in the audience. Ron's leg was bent moving with the beat.

"At the gay bar," she sang halfway through the short interlude, her leg tapping the beat just as Ron's had. The two males strode around the stage, somehow managing to look like they were doing something, yet it was still engaging. At the end of the somewhat clashing note, before it started up the tune from the very beginning, they all froze mid-step and looked at each other, smiles tugging at their lips. Hermione was watching with excitement. Pansy would sing next.

"I've got something to put in you. I've got something to put in you. I've got something to put in you. At the gay bar, gay bar, gay bar." She swung her hips as well, smirking into the audience.

"You're a super star." Harry sang in a deep voice.

"At the gay bar," replied Ron.

"You're a super star." Pansy sang and they began to back up.

"At the gay bar," was Harry's response.

"Super star." Ron said slowly and they all repeated it together. "Super star." The music cut out with Harry standing back up on the table, hand on hip and one in the air. Ron sat on the edge, one leg bent on the table the other dangling. His head was thrown back and one hand clutched his hair. Pansy leaned against the table's front leg on the opposite side, arm thrown across the table, smiling.

The audience burst into loud, energetic cheers and the curtains closed. After a moment they all relaxed, Pansy hugged them and they walked up and past the curtain. Even as she clapped Hermione was thinking.

Their routine was good. Maybe even a bit better than the other's, because it was longer, but she wasn't sure if it would stand up to the other group's. Not only did the world love Harry Potter (it wasn't his fault, but she had to include that in her assessment) but Ron was apparently considered quite attractive. While Draco and Blaise would have no trouble attracting the female population's attention, that left the males up to her. Which created a bit of a problem.

She would have to do something to get votes or they would lose it. The only other chance would be their solos, but she wasn't sure they should depend on them, just in case.

"Excellent job!" James was saying as the Pansy Pickers stood beside him. "Wow! That was very good!"

They all looked pleased.

"As promised, we'll look at some of your best moments now!" Sheila said and everyone turned to the way she was facing. A large muggle t.v was built high into the wall. It flashed on and Pansy's face appeared.

_On screen…_

"So we got the song 'Gay Bar,'" she said into the camera and then laughed. "I've never heard of it. It should be fun."

-

"I'm a bit nervous." Harry's face flashed up. "I can't really sing…At all. And my dancing is probably worse than my singing."

-

"I dunno." Ron said, shrugging. "I don't know muggle music, but it sounded OK."

-

"So your part is first." A man with dark hair said to Harry and he looked down at the music with a dubious expression. "Sing after me. 'You…I wanna take you to a gay bar.'"

"Er…Do I have to?" He asked meekly. The man glared and before you knew it he was singing.

-

"Hello." Pansy said brightly as she walked through.

"Hm." The man said. "Here's your music. We must start fast, because if not you'll fail."

"Oh…OK," Pansy said, a bit startled.

"Now, this song is about a gay bar." He said, "Are you gay?"

"Er…no." She said slowly, looking a bit unnerved.

"Hm. What a pity. I have daughter. She's eighteen. Big fan of yours."

"Oh…Cool." Pansy said, nodding awkwardly and coughing. He continued to watch her for another minute and then shook his head, murmuring, 'pity' under his breath.

-

"The only thing you really have to know for this dance is how to move your hips." A woman who looked a bit like Marsha was speaking to Ron. "Now, move!"

He looked a bit confused.

"Like this," she demonstrated, bending her legs and moving her hips.

"Er, OK." He jutted his torso out one way and his legs out the other, moving. "Like this?"

"No." She said flatly.

-

"Five, six, seven, eight!" She called, clapping. "Dun, dun, dun, dun, bah, hips, hips, hips! Good, Pansy!"

-

"How about this?" Ron asked, moving his hips back and forth without bending his legs, causing his entire upper body to move with them.

"No! Like THIS!" She showed his again.

-

"Hm. Who knew Harry Potter could shake it?" The woman said into the camera as Harry stood in front of the mirror, practicing under her 'supervision.' "He's much better than Ron…"

-

If showed the woman with her hands on Ron's hips, forcing him to bend his legs and sway.

"Yes! Yes! Like that!"

"Really?" He asked excitedly.

"No." She said, sighing.

-

It then showed them all, in three individual cuts on the screen, moving their hips and singing. Ron had actually managed to do it quite well.

_The screen went black and everyone clapped again_.

The Pansy Pickers were beaming at each other and Pansy said something to Ron, who laughed out loud.

"Up next are…the Bloody Fuckers!" Sheila called out, patting the three teenagers in front of her on the shoulder. "Please get right into position! And once again, great job Pansy Pickers!"

She looked at Blaise and Draco, who were barely containing nervous grins. All three pulled up their hoods and after wishing Blaise luck, she and Draco walked across the stage and stood just out of view on the other side. The blond nodded to her, "Ready?

The beginning music to 'Sexy Back' started.

For a moment her heart stopped beating, as Draco mouthed the counts into the song (1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.), then he winked and strutted out. He looked like a model and Hermione watched him, staring. Every three steps he stepped onto his toes with his front foot, then his back and then back to his front toes. While his weight was on his front foot he stepped forward with his left foot and continued walking. He stopped in the middle of the stage.

With his left foot forward and right back, his turned slightly so his head was facing the audience, but they mostly saw his side. Raising his microphone he jutted his chin up, "I'm bringin' sexy back. Yeah!"

She looked across the stage to Blaise, who nodded and they both strutted on, mirroring Draco's beginning stride. At the same moment they turned forward and stood up on the two stools a meter or so behind Draco as he sang, "Them other boys don't know how to act. I think it's special what's behind your back."

She and Blaise popped their chests to the beat, which she found quite humorous and had to look away not to laugh.

"So turn around and I'll pick up the slack."

"Take it to the bridge!" Blaise sang and Draco turned, microphone held to his lips to pick up the next bit.

"Dirty babe," he smirked as she responded with, 'uh huh.' "You see these shackles baby I'm your slave (uh huh). I'll let you whip me if I misbehave (uh huh). It's just that no one makes me feel this way (uh huh)."

"Take 'em to the chorus!" Blaise sang.

She stepped off the stool and strode forward, trying to do it the way Marsha had instructed her to. (Keep her legs a bit more forward than her torso, sway her hips slightly and move her shoulder with the opposite leg moving.) "Come here girl."

"Go 'head be gone with it." Draco (who had taken her place on the stool) and Blaise sang together.

"Come to the back." She sang, nearly skipping back and forth across the stage. "VIP (go 'head be gone with it). Drinks on me (go 'head be gone with it). Let me see what ya twerkin' with (go 'head be gone with it). Look at the hips." She moved back and walked around to stand between the two stools. "You make me smile (go 'head be gone with it). Come here child (go 'head be gone with it)." She ushered the audience with one finger.

This was it. The unplanned, un-choreographed part of her new and improved group routine. She hoped Marsha didn't kill her.

With a smirk she moved forward, still walking like Marsha had told her to, and to the stairs leading off the stage.

"Get your sexy on." She sang on the way down, smirking at the people she passed and hoping it was as effective as Draco's was. "Get your sexy on (go 'head be gone with it)." Thankfully, the other two made no indication that she had done something unexpected. "Get your sexy on (go 'head be gone with it). Get your sexy on (go 'head be go with it)."

Her eyes scanned the crowed as they did a book, taking in information and analyzing what would be most effective to remember. Her eyes landed on someone and she smirked into the words. Perfect.

She strode over quickly. Two more left. "Get your sexy on (go 'head be gone with it)." She stopped in front of them and took their hand, leading them to their feet. "Get your sexy on."

Theodore Nott looked, needless to say, a bit bemused as she began to lead him back up to the stage, still singing. Blaise and Draco were getting off their stools. "I'm bringin' sexy back. The motherfuckers don't know how to act. Girl let me make up for the things you lack. 'Cause you're burning up I gotta get it fast."

"Take 'em to the bridge." Was Draco a few steps from his stool.

"Dirty babe." Blaise sang, watching her with amusement as she danced up onto the stage. "You see these shackles baby I'm your slave."

She moved to where Draco stood and left Theodore to Blaise. She knew Theodore was friends with him and would therefore not be anxious when he used him as a prop, because she would not be able to use another body as effectively as he would.

"I'll let you whip me if I misbehave." Blaise said threw an arm around Theodore's neck, pulling him close. "It's just that no one makes me feel this way."

"Take 'em to the chorus!" Draco sang and Hermione resumed where she had been standing to take the chorus. The audience expected her to find someone else, which was a good thing as she noticed no one slouching in hopes of being ignored. With a smirk she began to comb the crowd and pulled up someone who wasn't from Hogwarts. She seemed to enjoy it and began to dance with Theodore, much to his apparent disappointment. His eyes flickered back to his seat more than a few times.

"You ready? You ready?" Hermione sang striding confidently away from the pair.

"Uh, yes."

"I'm bringin' sexy back." Blaise sang after her part and she smiled from where she was. He loved this song. "Them mother_fuckers_ don't know how to act. Boy let me make up for the things you lack."

Apparently everyone noticed his alteration of the lyrics, as they began to scream approval. "'Cause you're burnin' up I gotta get it fast."

"Take 'em to the bridge." Draco sang, catching Hermione's eyes and making her smile.

"Dirty babe." She sang and they stood behind her, one on each side as they all popped their chests. She'd found the whole act quite hilarious when they did it, but judging from the cheers they got it didn't look funny. "You see these shackles baby I'm your slave. I'll let you whip me," she conjured up a whip very quickly (her wand was hidden in her sleeve, so she let it slide into her fingertips) and hit the ground, before bending slightly and rolling her torso back up, "If I misbehave. It's just that no one makes me feel this way."

"Take 'em to the chorus." Blaise sang and this time Draco took it. Following what she'd done he sauntered down the stairs and weaved through the tables, before holding a hand out to Ginny, who took it. Hermione hid a smile of appreciation. By taking Ginny's hand, not only would it make her friends want them to win, but it would make Ginny feel more involved and less hateful of their group. Or of the two Slytherins, in any case. If the Pansy Pickers won, there was no doubt in her mind that Ginny would be coming on the show, so by Draco doing that, it might make her opinion ease up slightly in preparation for her arrival. It would also make Harry insanely jealous, but Hermione wasn't sure if that was intentional.

He looked over to the side and Hermione knew it was.

"You ready?" She sang. "You ready? You ready?"

"Uh." Was Blaise.

"Yes." Draco whispered into the microphone, though somehow it sounded a bit dirty for whispering.

"I'm bringin' sexy back." Blaise sang, moving towards a reluctant Theodore and the dancing girl. "You mother_fuckers_ watch how I attack. If that's your boy, better watch your back." He wrapped an arm around Theodore's waist and tugged him slightly, smirking at the girl. "'Cause he'll burn it up for me and that's a fact."

"Take 'em to the chorus!" Hermione sang and Draco brought up the final person to the stage. To her intense amusement, he went to Harry from the side and led him out, an expression of mortification on the raven haired male's face. However, when he let go of his arm near Ginny, the bushy-haired Gryffindor nearly died with hilarity. It all seemed so funny, maybe because it was impulsive, and maybe because the audience seemed to enjoy it.

Halfway through Blaise picked up the chorus and pointed to the audience for the 'go 'head be gone with it's. Hermione sidled up to Draco and took out a pair of handcuffs. Quick as a flash she closed one side around Draco's wrist and the other around her own. All three of them took off their hoods and the lighting on the stage began to change color.

Hermione and Draco began to dance. Hermione held out one of her arms (the hands were clenched in fists) to the left and other over her chest. The hand attached to Draco was the one that ended up over her chest and he held the other over his own chest. They both popped six times, the movement of their linked hands traveling through their bodies. The next part was the hardest. They turned so their joined hands were between them, crossed their outside legs over the other and turned inward, pulling their arms over their heads while they spun to the floor.

"You ready?" Draco sang as they stayed low to the floor.

"Yes." She replied.

"You ready?" He asked again.

"Yes." She sang and then on the last beat he stood up. She used her feet to spring slightly and she ended up with her legs around his waist, their locked hands on his side and the other clutching his back for deal life. It was all done in one fluid movement and she smiled widely at the success. "Yes." They all ended together. Blaise stood, one arm resting on Theodore's waist and the other with his microphone by his face, head tilted.

The curtain closed amid roars of screams and she got off Draco. "Nice job." He said to her and they walked up to the front of the curtain where Blaise was waiting. After smiling to the four on the stages (Theodore, Ginny and the other girl descended the stairs while Harry went back to where he'd been) they met Sheila and James.

"Wow. That was very nice!" Sheila said, smiling at them all. Her eyes fell upon Hermione and Draco's wrists, still locked. "Are you keeping him?"

The audience laughed and she unhooked them, not in the least bit embarassed. The euphoria was still in her system. "Well, onto your best moments!"

_The screen turned on._

"We got the song 'Sexy Back.' Errm…I've never heard of the song, but it goes very well with Malfoy." Hermione confessed laughingly.

-

"It's a good song, nice beat." Blaise said, shrugging.

-

"A bit repetitive, but otherwise I enjoy it." Draco said, "Though it's frustrating that I only know the part because there are holes in it."

-

"_If they thought it would be easy, they were definitely wrong."_

"No! No, you must try harder! Like this!" Marsha commanded Draco and Hermione saw that they were practicing the handcuffing part. She spun downwards with him, but his arm was twisted the wrong way and he fell over. "No! Not like that!"

"I'm _trying_ all right!" He nearly shouted, scowling.

-

"You're not hitting the right note." Jacquelyn told Blaise, her cheerful face a bit strained. He looked like he wanted to hit the piano, hard. "We don't want it to be down here. Laa." She sang the note he had evidently been singing. "No, up here. Laa. Again."

"Dirty babe." He sang, eyes on her.

"Yes, that was good. Let's do it again." She said and made him repeat it ten times. "OK, you go that half the time. But half isn't _good _enough in a performance."

"Can we just move on?" Blaise asked, looking like he wanted to rip up the music.

-

"Come on, Hermione! We want sexy sexy sexy! You have a whip!" Marsha clapped her hands at Hermione, who looked very annoyed. "Again! Try again!"

"I'll let you whip," she whipped the floor but Marsha was already frowning.

"You look like you want to cause physical pain!"

"Maybe because I do!" She snapped at the woman, who frowned at her, but still backed up a few feet. "I'm just not good at this!"

Marsha proceeded to lecture her about being the weak link in a group, at which point Hermione burst into tears and glared. "I'm not a bloody weak link! Just because I'm not a bloody whore-"

"Don't use those words!" Marsha snapped, "Now do you _want_ to do this or not?"

"How about not?" Hermione snarled back, hands clenched in fists.

"Too bad, you'll do it anyway!"

They glared at each other for quite some time, before Marsha clapped in her face. "Now, position!"

Hermione scowled, but went anyway.

-

"It's really frustrating." Hermione said in the Confession Box, looking close to tears. "I'm not a dancer or a singer, but I'm trying and all they can say is I have to do it better! I'm not a sexy person, I'm not good at being sexy and-" She wiped away at her eyes. "I'm not the weak link. I don't care what she says, I will do this right at the performance. I will."

-

It showed them all individually (for Hermione and Draco it was the part where they had to do their dance together and Blaise was singing, so they just cut out Marsha) dancing in practice, concentration evident on their faces, and then flashed to their performance in real costumes, doing it better than they had ever thought possible. As funny as it was, Hermione looked a bit disbelieving in the clip. Then it flipped back to the practice, where Hermione began to jump up and down in excitement because she'd gotten it, Draco laughed for reasons unknown and Blaise flipped the camera the middle finger.

_The screen darkened and everyone was clapping._ Blaise put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze.

"Next up, the Weird Sisters! Thank you, Bloody Fuckers, for such a delightful performance." James said and they nodded at him, before leaving the stage.

"You weren't a weak link." Draco murmured to her as they left, but it was so quietly spoken and the crowd was so loud she could have imagined it.

-

-

In twenty five minutes (after spending the time rehearsing in the dressing room) Pansy was standing in the middle of the stage and the curtains were pulling back. Her legs were spread slightly more than shoulder width apart and she was wearing a pink dress that was slimming and had sparkling sequins on the strapless top and poofed out at her waist in a multitude of skirt layers, ending just above her knees.

Hermione stood on the side in her solo clothing, extremely excited for what was coming. They'd changed clothes and, faster than she'd thought possible, her hair was put into a messy but still fancy bun. Her spirits had, opposed to been dashed by the video, risen several decibels. She'd done what she'd needed to do, and more, and it had been done well. What else would she need?

"Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah." She sang as soft music filled the room. Hermione recognized with easy certainty 'Pocket Full of Sunshine' and smiled. The band picked up the music's pace and, "I've got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine. I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh. Oowaaooh."

She walked across the stage and her skirts swayed. "Do what you want but you're never gonna break me, sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, oh. Oowaaooh.

"Take me away, a secret place. A sweet escape, take me away. Take me away, to better days. Take me away," she smiled into the microphone, "A hiding place.

Hermione was very impressed. Pansy was pretty good. Her voice was clear and she didn't falter, even when there was a slightly off note. She didn't have musical experience, or anything, but she was listening quite intently.

"I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine. I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh. Oowaaooh. Do what you want but you're never gonna break me, sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, oh. Oowaaooh.

"I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine. I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh. Oowaaooh. Wish that you could but you ain't gonna own me, do anything you can to control me, oh. Oh, no."

She clapped her free hand with the one holding the microphone as she sang the chorus, eyes closed. The audience quickly caught on, a sea of moving arms and a resounding clap, miraculously – there were some people who just couldn't carry a beat – altogether.

"There's a place that I go that, nobody knows where the rivers flow, and I call it home. And there's no more to lies in the darkness there's light. And nobody cries, there's only butterflies." She tilted her head back, eyes still closed, and held the microphone to her lips, holding the note.

"Take me away," she turned, jumping slightly and landed, body absorbing the shock as the music picked up again. "A secret place. A sweet escape, take me away. Take me away, to better days. Take me away, a hiding place.

"Take me away," she held the microphone in the direction of the audience, who dutifully sung back 'a secret place,' "A sweet escape, take me away." She walked back across the front of the stage, moving with the beat. "Take me away, to better days. Take me away, a hiding place.

"Take me away," she was strutting like she was in a fashion show and singing her heart out. "A secret place. To better days, take me away. Take me away. To better days. Take me away, a hiding place."

Pansy stopped in the same place she'd started in, "Mm. Yeah…Mm. The sun is on my side, and takes me for a ride. I smile up to the sky, I know I'll be alright. The sun is on my side, and takes me for a ride. I smile up to the sky, I know I'll be alright."

She waited, microphone still up, bent slightly forward and then straightened, smiling as the music stopped. "Thank-you."

After her 'best moments' were shown for the crowd she walked off the stage, face turning into one of glee and she nearly ran after she was out of sight. She high-fived Harry and Ron, who both complimented her. "It feels so good to be done!" She exclaimed, just as a look of dawning horror grew on Ron's face.

"Oh Merlin, I'm next!" He cried, eyes wide.

"Next up, we've got Ronald Weasley from the Pansy Pickers!" James called out, "Ron, if you will!"

Everything seemed to be moving so fast, Hermione noted even a she discerned every moment the others made.

Harry clapped him on the back and he gulped, before walking out onto the stage. A few seconds after he'd taken up a position right near the edge of the curtain, electric guitar filled the eager silence and the curtains retracted. "You're making a choice to live like this. And all of the noise, I am silence." He was in the same position Pansy had started in, though his foot was tapping the beat and his left arm was moving slightly upward to the left as he sang.

"We already know how it ends tonight, you run in the dark through a firefight. And I would explode just to save your life, yeah I would explode." He counted up his fingers even as he finished the note, arm still held up parallel to the ground, one, two, three four. Then he jumped in the air at the point where the phrase began, but it was like he was hanging in silence, because the music had stopped for a moment as he turned in a complete circle. "Let me light up the sky. Light it up for you. Let me tell you why, I would die for you. Let me light up the sky."

He walked across the stage, bent slightly over the microphone in his hand. "I can't find a wall to pin this to. They're all coming down since I found you." He walked down the stairs into the audience. "I just wanna be where you are tonight."

He turned to the first girl he could find, holding out a hand in her direction and singing to her. "I run in the dark looking for some light. And how will we know if we just don't try? We won't ever know."

He smiled into the speaker and then jumped slightly the side using one leg, landing in time to keep striding, bending with each strong beat. "Let me light up the sky. Light it up for you. Let me tell you why. I would die for you. Let me light up the sky. Light it up for you. Let me make this mine. I'll ignite for you."

He'd walked around the table and came back to the girl, who was blushing furiously. He held out his hand, this time indicating he wanted her to take it. She did and stood up as he tugged her gently. "Let me light up the sky, just for you tonight. Let me help you fly, 'cause you won't have time. To cover your eyes or get your disguise. They won't ask you why, they'll just watch you die."

He lifted his arm and twirled her (she was a bit slow on the uptake) under his arm and walked backwards up to the stage. "And it's still so hard to be who you are, so you play this part and the show goes on. But you've come this far with a broken heart, yeah you've come this far and you're broken.

"Let me light up the sky," he sang in a more quiet voice, holding her hand. "Light it up for you. Let me tell you why, I would die for you. Let me light up the sky, light it up for you. Let me make this mine, I'll ignite for you."

He did the slight-turn-jump step again, pulling her across the stage, still watching her and singing the chorus. It was impressive, in all honesty, Hermione had thought Ron would be a bit worse than he was. She noticed imperfections, of course, and he didn't have the best voice, but it was a good performance. And the audience was reacting well. She was torn between pride and slight disappointment momentarily, as it would be harder to win if they didn't blow the audience away, but pride took over.

"And it's still so hard to be who you are, but you've come this far and you're broken." He'd led her back to her seat, where she sat down and after smiling at her, he leapt back up to the stage.

"Light up the sky," he sang as the room lost all light, except for one blue beam pointing right at him. "Let me light up the sky." He finished where he'd started, head tilted slightly and eyes open with relief. Hermione vaguely noticed the amount of head tilting there had been going on as she clapped, exchanging impressed looks with Harry. "Thanks." He said, nodding.

It seemed that while their friends performed, they forgot what was to come, but as soon as they were done, horror would rock through each person when they realized who was next. After Ron, Hermione wasn't altogether surprised when Harry suddenly gasped. It didn't have anything to do with Ron singing on the screen as it showed his best moments, either.

"You'll be great!" Hermione called after him as he walked stiffly away from them. Ron cheerfully clapped his back, muttered something and came back, grinning. Pansy hugged him excitedly, beaming.

"This is so great!" The blonde said happily and Hermione congratulated the red-head as well. Blaise shushed her.

Harry stood in the middle of the stage while Sheila and James introduced him and advised him to get in his place, adopting a similar position Draco had had at the beginning of 'Sexy Back.' The heavy beat that picked up was familiar and she felt a big smile stretch her face. It was such a perfect song! As the two hard notes hit, Harry nodded his head twice. They hit again and he used a fist, punching the air beside him. And then-

"This ain't a song for the broken-hearted." He sang, to Hermione's delight. He moved to the beat, faster and more exaggerated, hinting that he was going to do something big. "No silent prayer for faith-departed. I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd. You're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud."

When the two hard notes hit again his entire body seemed to move with the force of his weight transferal from his left to right foot and back, twice. HE jumped outright, landing in time to pick up the song as it became heavier, "It's my life. It's now or never. I ain't gonna live forever. I just wanna live when I'm alive. It's my life. My heart is like an open highway. Like Frankie said, I did it my way. I just wanna live when I'm alive," he nodded his head once more, raven hair jerking in a mass with the movement. "It's my life."

He walked across the front, crossing one foot across the other and surprisingly managed not to look like a deformed crab. "This is for the ones who stood their ground. For 'Mione and Ron, who never backed down. Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake, luck ain't even lucky gotta make your own breaks."

Hermione flushed, she couldn't help it, and wondered if the changes were Harry's or the person who had coached him in his singing. Which was about the same level as Ron's, kind of horrible if it weren't for the lights, the stage, the live music playing and the people who cheered for him whenever he so much as took a step. As they did when he picked up the chorus and walked backwards a few steps.

"Better stand tall when they're calling you out. Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down." He whirled around and lunged to the side, his head thrown back as he sang. "It's my life, and it's now or never. 'Cause I ain't gonna live forever." Everyone cheered as he went into higher range.

"I just wanna live while I'm alive. My heart is like an open highway. Like Frankie said I did it my way. I just wanna live while I'm alive.

"And it's now or never," he continued, legs spread wide and almost all his weight on his right. "'Cause I ain't gonna live forever." When he went higher his face scrunched up in such an adorable way a few girls squealed. "I just wanna live while I'm alive."

He strode across the stage again, letting his shoulders bob slightly on either side as he did and keep pace with the beat. "My heart is like an open highway, like Frankie said I did it my way." He formed a fist with his left hand and hit his chest twice with it. "'Cause I just wanna live while I'm alive. 'Cause it's," he bent his legs slightly, "my," and he jumped. As he reached the highest point of the jump he finished the song. "Life."

They blackened the room completely, and the only noise was Harry's feet hitting the ground, before masses of screams filled the room. After a minute or so the lights flickered back on and a very embarrassed Harry stood, awkwardly raking a hand through his hair, which only encouraged them more.

"Wow. Harry Potter has many wonders!" Sheila said, winking at the audience. "Let's see how he fared!"

_Harry's face appeared on the large television screen._

"Mmm…So, I guess the song is a good choice. I'm not sure attempting the Beatles would be a good idea." Harry laughed somewhat awkwardly. "Mark reminds me a bit of Sensei Joe, though…"

-

"You have to _twist_ the words." Mark was saying, "Make it sound almost _dirty_. Don't be the loser who goes around singing, 'it's my life,' and smiling. No. Twist it! Kill it!" Mark slapped his hand with his fist. "Kill it!"

Harry blinked.

-

"It's, my, life!" The choreographer for that group was explaining, standing up on a makeshift stage. "You jump!"

She jumped up, bending her legs and then landed. "See, the lights will be off so I don't care if you end up falling and dying, just make the jump _brilliant_."

Harry looked a bit taken aback.

"Ron can't move his hips." She said, sighing. Harry snickered, but jumped when she snapped, "So let's see what you can do! Jump! For the sake of _God_ jump!"

Harry turned to get onto the stage and gave the camera a she's-definitely-crazy look.

-

"It's a shame the two are complete psychos." He said, sighing, "Or I'd really enjoy it. If you two see this…Hehe. Just kidding."

-

The finishing video clip was of him mid-jump, hair flying behind him in a stream of black.

_The image faded into the screen and then went black._

"Brilliant! Wow, Harry that was amazing!" Hermione said, grinning so widely her face was hurting.

"Thanks." He said, and imitated her impression. "I guess you're next?"

Instead of feeling the panic everyone else seemed to, she felt a surge of excitement. "I suppose! Oooh, wish me luck!"

"Luck," Blaise drawled in an exaggerated voice.

"Luck," Draco said as well and she beamed at them, before strolling onto the stage.

The velvety chair was in the middle and she sighed a bit regretfully, before climbing onto it. The dress she was wearing – about the same length as her skirt had been and was red with slightly poofy short sleeves. There was a small slit on the right side of it and a big yellow belt with a shiny black, square buckle was on her waist – thankfully allowed to arrange herself without difficulty.

When the curtains opened to the opening beat of 'I Kissed a Girl' she was sitting with her back leaning against one armrest, both of her legs hanging over the other and her yellow high heels pointed to the floor. Her head was facing the audience and she was smirking slightly.

"This was never the way I planned," she sang slowly, moving her torso forward and backwards with the song's beat. She heard laughter from the side and recognized Draco and Blaise, though it didn't discourage or embarrass her. "Not, my intention. I got so brave drink in hand, lost my discretion. It's not what, I'm used to. Just, wanna try you on. I'm curious, for you. Caught my attention."

She twisted so that her left leg, the one closest to the audience slipped down on the actual seat and touched the floor. Thankfully Marsha had taught her to do so without exposing anything underneath the dress. Her left elbow came backwards to rest on the opposite armrest and she turned her torso more to the front, leaning forward. "I kissed a girl, and I liked it. The taste of her cherry chapstick." She touched her lips with two fingers and made a small, innocent shrug.

"I kissed a girl, just to try it. I hope my boyfriend don't mind it." She smiled secretively. "It felt so wrong, it felt so right. Don't mean I'm in love, tonight. I kissed a girl and I liked it. I liked it."

Quick as a flash she stood up, resting her left hand on the back of the chair and slowly circling around the back. "No, I don't even know your name. It, doesn't matter. You're my experimental game. Just, human nature." She was back at the front and lifted her leg closest to the audience – her right, with the slit – onto the armrest of the chair, "It's not what, good girls do." She smirked again, transferring the microphone to her other hand.

"Not, how they should behave. My head gets, so confused." She lifted her right hand to her head, "Hard to obey."

For the chorus she launched herself away from the chair, using her leg as extra force and crossed up to the front. She strutted back and forth across the front, singing pretty well and accentuating certain parts. When the mention of cherry chapstick came up she took a few out from a pocket in her dress you couldn't see from the audience, used one and tossed them into the air.

"Us girls we are so magical." She smiled, she couldn't help it, at that part because it reminded her of when she and Blaise sang in the car. The choreography was just so similar. Apparently he remembered as well, as she heard his whoop loudly from off stage. "Soft skin," she ran her hand down her leg, "red lips," she blew a kiss, skillfully transferring the microphone to her other hand again "so kissable.

"Hard to resist so touchable," she ran a hand down her side, "Too good to, deny it. Ain't no big deal it's innocent," she held the note and the audience cheered. It was an exhilarating feeling, to have people cheering for you because of something you were doing.

She turned and hit her head down as she entered into the chorus once more, "I kissed a girl, and I liked it. I kissed a girl just to try it," she did an innocent shrug, moving one shoulder slightly more than the other and tilting her head. "I hope my boyfriend don't mind it. It felt so wrong," she bowed her head slightly and once more smirked, wondering if it was actually effective, "it felt so right," she moved to the side smoothly and then took an exaggerated step out.

"Don't mean I'm in love tonight." She waltzed back to the chair. "I kissed a girl and I liked it." She clutched the back of the chair with her free hand and fell back into her original position, holding the microphone up at a tilt and savoring the last moment of the song. "I liked it."

She was surprised to find herself out of breath, and her heart was racing. The feelings of exhilaration still coursed through her and she was sure her face was going to implode from the force of her smile. The curtains were closed and she walked up, pushing them aside to get through.

"Great job! That was brilliant!" Sheila said enthusiastically. "Did you enjoy the performance the second time?"

"Yes," she said, smiling, "Definitely."

"Nice!" James said, grinning. "Let's look at some of your moments, shall we?"

_All attention turned to the screen._

"'I Kissed a Girl.'" Hermione said, looking thoughtful. "I really like the song. It was funny how I got to do it again, though."

-

"Hm, so here's the deal." Jacquelyn said, "You've got an OK voice, I'm not going to lie and tell you it's great. But you learned the music fast, so I think it would be good for me to tell you to stop singing so innocently. I mean, you've got the beat, but going, 'I hope my boyfriend don't mind it,' with a happy, cutsy smile is so not good enough. You have to _feel _the music!"

Hermione nodded, "Okay."

"Mm, so shall we start at the first chorus?" Jacquelyn asked and when Hermione nodded began to play.

-

"Jacquelyn's nice." Hermione said, shrugging. "She's very…happy…Even when she was telling me not to be cute and happy, she was smiling and was talking really high pitched. It's a bit…unnerving.

"Marsha, on the other hand…"

-

"Let's go, let's go, let's go! Your leg comes down, faster!" Marsha barked to Hermione, who was perched on the chair. "Up, down, up, down, up!"

Hermione widened her eyes in annoyance at the camera, before complying. Her leg slid up and then down to match Marsha's orders.

-

"Marsha is, different." Hermione said carefully, and then her face twisting into one of anxiousness. "I hope she doesn't see this, but honestly she's a bit spastic. And repetitive."

She laughed, and then jumped as her name was shouted. With a quick, secretive look at the camera she got up and walked over to the object of her words. Marsha didn't appear to have heard what she said, which Hermione was glad.

It showed the very end of her performance, and then the crowd was cheering again. She grinned, waved, and then walked backstage as Shame announced Draco as their next performer. As she passed him she wished him good luck. He nodded.

"His eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets." Blaise confided in her, snickering slightly. "Nice job."

Harry, Pansy and Ron also congratulated her. To her amusement and somewhat irritation, Ron whipped his cell phone out of his pocket and began to fiddle with it in what could only be texting movement. Pansy and Harry both sighed loudly.

Draco stood in the middle of the stage. The microphone he was using was clipped into a stand, so he had one hand on that and the other rested at his side. His head moved ever so slightly with the opening. At last, as Hermione's heart began to race faster than it had for even her own performance, he moved his lips. "Hope," he ended the word with a breathy half-laugh half-smile, "dangles on a string. Like slow spinning redemption. Winding in, and winding out. The shine of it has caught my eye.

"And roped me in," he sang calmly, as though he were having a conversation about the weather, yet he captivated the audience as much as the song was suggesting. "So, mesmerizing and so, hypnotizing I am, captivated I am," his hand curled more tightly around the microphone, but he didn't move it.

"Vindicated, I am selfish I am wrong. I am right I swear I'm right, swear I knew it all along and I am, flawed. But I am cleaning up so well. I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself, so clear." His face scrunched up slightly – yet in an attractive way – as he sang. "Like the diamond in your ring. Cut to mirror your intention, oversized, and overwhelmed, the shine of which has caught my eye."

A small smirk was growing on his face, "And rendered me so, isolated, and so, motivated. I am certain now that I am." As the chorus came once more he ripped the mike quickly from its socket and stepped around the stand.

He barely took two steps forward, yet the effect seemed to make him look more intense. He stood, legs parted a bit more than one would separate them in a regular stance. The television on the wall, previously black, was playing a close up of his face. Hermione wondered if it had done that for all of them, or just for him, because she hadn't noticed. Grey eyes glittered and his blonde hair was shining.

"So turn," he drew out the end of the word, moving his head away to the left and then quickly back so he could sing the rest. "Up the corners of your lips, part them and feel my fingertips." He lifted his left hand up and forward to the audience, then let it fall back to his side.

"Trace the moment, fall forever." He did a small smirk, but it was not the one Hermione was used to. Instead, it was soft and looked a bit shy. "Defense is paper thin. Just, one touch and I'll be in, too deep now to ever swim, against the current.

"So let me slip away," his eyes slid closed, "So let me slip away. So let me slip away. So let me slip, against the current. So let me slip away. So let me slip away. So let me slip away. So let me slip awaa," they flickered open and he threw his head back, lifting his arm a bit, "aay."

Hermione's jaw fell open as he continued to hold the note, far into the music from the chorus. People began to cheer and she stared at the Slytherin in amazement. He was, by far, the best singer they'd had so far. He had the sort of voice one would want for the male lead in a musical who always cared for the leading woman but always ended up getting treated badly. He would have a gentle, yet slightly bitter edge to his voice, and would hit the notes with near perfect precision.

"I swear I'm right." He picked it up almost instantaneously. Hermione marveled at his breathing ability. "Swear I knew it all along and I am, flawed. But I am cleaning up so well. I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself.

"Slight hope," he walked slowly to the edge of the stage, "Dangles on a string," he sat down on the edge of the stage, his left elbow resting on his bent knee. "Like slow spinning redemption…"

His eyes flickered left (she could tell from the television screen) and then an expression of satisfied relief replaced the serious features he'd adopted for the song. She cheered loudly, clapping with everyone else. Who would have suspected Draco could ever sound like that?

"Nice job, Draco." James clapped him on the back as the blond stood up. Draco grimaced slightly, but didn't move. "Ready to see your video?"

"Yes," he replied lazily, as if he had merely sat through a Charms theory quiz.

"Well, then!" Sheila said, beaming.

_Draco's face appeared._

"Hm…Vindicated is a very…personal song." Draco said thoughtfully. "I think it's the sort of song that everyone feels is…about them, but it means different things. To some people it's about leaving, and coming back to find what it is you left, and realizing something about yourself. It can mean that he's realizing how flawed he is, and he's trying to be better, even though it's too late, he's already lost her, but becoming better is enough at the moment. Or about how, as human beings, we're always trying to justify what we've done, but he's not sure he can."

-

"Ooh, you chose a good one." Jacquelyn said appreciatively. "The vocals will get a bit tricky."

"I want this song." He said firmly, arms crossed. She looked up in surprise.

"Okay, down tiger. That's fine."

-

"Let me slip away," he was singing the part where he held the note long into the chorus and Jacquelyn stood beside him, tapping the piano and nodding. He ended, sucked in a quick breath and continued.

"Good!" She said, grinning. "That was very good. You're one of the people who is blessed with superb breathing, I guess?"

"Maybe. I've never had lessons or anything." He said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Mmm." Jacquelyn said thoughtfully. "Anyways, you lost pitch about halfway through, so let's work on that…"

-

"Hello," Marsha said, looking annoyed. Draco's eyebrows raised at the sight of her. "So, I understand that the song you got requires very little dancing, yes? We're going to mostly do the group, but let's start. The biggest thing you have to do is sit down…"

"Okay," Draco said, following her into the middle of the room.

"Now, for singers, if you start quietly and then get more intense and loud, it creates an effect we like to call crescendos. The way I see it, this can be transferred to dancing as well. So, you'll start out like this, just holding the stand."

Draco mimicked her position.

"Good. You have good form." Marsha said and slapped his back. He jumped, whirling to face her.

"What?"

"Just checking." She smiled darkly.

-

"To me…" Draco trailed off, eyes looking at the floor as he thought. "Vindicated isn't about realizing your flaws… The person who is narrating it already knows their flaws. They think they're completely flawed, and there's nothing left for them…But then there's hope, dangling on a string and…its tantalizing, to see something you want so much, that you didn't even think was there…And he begins to realize that he has flaws like selfishness, but he's changing; he's vindicated. And when he talks about 'seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself so clear,' he's talking about a girl, who saw deeper than his major failures…"

-

"Sit casually, like, 'this is the end of the song and it was easy.'" Marsha said and sat on the floor, demonstrating a position for him. He followed suit and she frowned. "Mmm, no. You look like a duck. Bend your leg – no, the other one. Yes, now put your elbow on it. The other elbow, you stupid boy!"

"Psycho." Draco muttered.

-

"But she's engaged, she's got a ring. He sees it, and he feels so isolated, because she's got someone else, but even though she's taken, it makes him want to become more, it motivates him." He was still looking at the floor, as though he was having a conversation with it. But it wasn't from embarrassment, but from concentration and trying to find the words he needed to express.

"'Defense is paper thin, one touch and I'll be in…' He has no defense, it's not big enough to withstand what he feels and block her out. She could touch him, his hand, his face, whatever, and he wouldn't be able to get out. He wouldn't be able to fight against it anymore. So he thinks, just let me go, then. Let the current take me wherever I should go.

"And then, at the end, he ends with what he started with, and he realizes that the hope being dangled in front of him is love, that his redemption is love for her. And that vindicates him." He looked up to the screen, satisfied with his words, and laughed slightly, though without humor or bitterness. "It's an emotional song."

-

The audience clapped for him and Draco actually looked very embarrassed by what he'd said. "Intense words, Draco. Very intense." James said, looking deep in thought. And not even the fake looks he often adopted and tried to accentuate the show with, but a real one. There was a pause as no one spoke. "Thank you, again, for performing and for our final performance we have Blaise Zabini!"

Hermione turned to Blaise, who didn't look at all nervous, "Good luck!"

He smiled deviously at her. "You too."

"Sorry?" She asked in confusion, but he waved her off and strode on stage. As he passed Draco they exchanged a few words, then he slipped to the front and seemed to be talking into the curtain. He nodded, and Hermione guessed that he was talking to Sheila and James. Two people walked on from the other side of the stage and he went to meet them. One was carrying a tall stool and dragged it close with the microphone stand, and the other was holding a guitar. Blaise took the guitar and thanked them, before settling himself on the stool.

For some unknown reason, Draco had gone to the other side of the stage. Wondering if she should go join him, she was startled when Pansy darted across the stage and came to rest beside him. She asked him a question, or at least Hermione thought, but he just shook his head.

Blaise began to play his guitar slowly, strumming the cords easily. Someone from the band played piano, and then drums. Together it sounded beautiful, but when he opened his mouth it added perfectly to the ensemble. She'd thought Draco was amazing, but compared to Blaise, he was merely average.

"I don't know your face, no more. Or feel the touch, that I adore." He sang softly, but powerfully and he didn't have to move to the beat for everyone to see that he felt it. He was_ in_ the music. "I don't know your face, no more. It's just the place, I'm looking for.

"We might as well be strangers in another town. We might as well be living in a different world. We might as well, we might as well, we might as well." His eyes, clear and bright and full of emotion were open and flickered through the audience. She found that the television was on for him as well, so she had probably just been blind to it. It was surprisingly hard to not watch him in the screen, because it showed feeling quite clearly, as opposed to watching his face from off stage.

"I don't know your thoughts, these days. We're strangers in, an empty space. I don't understand your heart. It's easier, to be apart." It was strange, but the way he was singing made it seem like it _was_ easier to be apart, that he suffered emotional pain when they were together and yet he was just singing someone else's song; it wasn't his own. The way he was singing made her feel like there was someone in mind that she knew, and was aware of the innermost details of their relationship.

"We might as well be strangers in another town." His body moved slowly with his arm as he played the guitar. "We might as well be living in another time. We might as well, we might as well." His voice began to rise in strength, yet it still retained the wonderful quality it had. "We might as well, be strangers."

His eyes slid closed and his head tilted back a bit, "We might as well, be strangers." His voice rose and smoothly slid over the variation in notes. The gentle, rocking motions he'd been doing instinctively rose with the crescendo and his guitar playing, which seemed to set the rhythm. As he hit the end of 'strangers' he struck the chord and then his hand raised slightly, waiting a few beats, before picking back up and repeating the action. "Be strangers.

"For all I know, of you now." He spoke, letting his voice slow down and quiet. "For all I know, of you now. For all I know, of you now. For all I know."

As the last few notes were played and they resonated in the quiet room, Hermione felt disappointed that it was over. Not only was his voice amazing, but when he was singing, Blaise looked like a different person. Well, he didn't look _different_, per se, but that he was revealing a part of him he hadn't before. If she really thought about it, she'd been expecting him to do something faster and with harder music.

He didn't move the first few seconds, and his eyes flickered open. With a small smile he looked up from the floor, where he'd been staring. Strangely, the curtains didn't close and Sheila and James didn't come back up on stage. Wondering if something was wrong, Hermione stood on her tip-toes, trying to see through the darkness that still encased them somewhat. Harry and Ron drew their wands, but she just fingered hers through her dress, where it was fastened to the hem.

"I actually have a bit of a surprise." Blaise said into the microphone, "They decided it would be okay if I sang a second song that I prepared on my own. Before I start, I just want to dedicate this song to my teammates, Hermione and Draco."

Something about the way he was talking didn't sound like he was doing it as a thank-you for not making him go insane, or for just being friends. It sounded a bit devious, like the look he'd had in his eye earlier.

He flashed a glance in her direction, grinned, and then turned back to the front. After tightening a few strings he began to play a song Hermione recognized instantly.

"This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us. It's time to make our move, I'm shakin' off the rust. I've got my heart set, on anywhere but here. I'm staring down myself, counting up the years.

"Steady hands just take the wheel, every glance is killing me. Time to make one last appeal, for the live I, lead." The lights were blue, casting a surreal like quality about him and the camera circled him. "Stop and stare, I think I'm moving but I go nowhere. Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared. I've become what I can't be, ooh."

Hermione blushed fuchsia as she realized why he'd dedicated this to them. This was the song that had been on the radio when they'd been talking the other night. Of course, whether or not anyone else would understand…She looked to the audience, and saw a few expressions of dawning comprehension.

"Stop and stare," his neck arched as he sang the higher note, "you start to wonder why you're here not there. And you'd give anything to get what's fair. But fair ain't what you really need. Ooh, can you see what I see?"

_But how did he know? _Hermione's mind wondered, even as she avoided the curious looks of Ron and Harry. _He must've been awake…He must've somehow remembered the song…_

"They're trying to come back, all my senses push. Untie the weight bags, I never thought I could. Steady feet, don't fail me now. I'm gonna run 'til you can't walk. Something pulls my focus out. And I'm standing down."

He was smirking into the microphone now, at his own private joke. Hermione looked across the stage and experienced a strange jolting sensation as her eyes locked with Draco's, who had either been watching her or happened to have looked up at the same time.

"Stop and stare," he stood up, kicking the stool backwards and began to play harder. "I think I'm moving but I go nowhere. Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared. But I've become what I can't be, ooh." Hermione's eyebrows shot up as his voice hit the high notes.

"Stop and stare. You start to wonder why you're here not there." Draco's lips twitched upward and Hermione smiled tentatively. "And you'd give anything to get what's fair. But fair ain't what you really need. Oh, you don't need." Again, his range would have impressed her had some other force not been holding her in place, like everything else was moving around her yet all she could do was, ironically enough, stare across the stage into the eyes of the person who seemed to be suffering from the same problem.

"Whooaa," he sang more softly, "Whooaa. What you need, what you need. What you need.

"Stop and stare, I think I'm moving but I go nowhere. Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared. But I've become what I can't be, ooh. Do you see what I see?" He seemed to actually pose the last question, before bowing his head and taking a step backwards. "Thank you."

Draco jerked his head away and Hermione blinked rapidly, as though clearing stars from her eyes. Sheila and James joined Blaise on stage near the middle, as the curtains didn't close again. "That was fantastic!" James said, clearly impressed. "You have quite a bit of talent."

Blaise shrugged, "I have good inspiration."

"I'm sure you do." Sheila said, smiling. "Before we see your footage, we have a few announcements! The first is that any second now slips of paper should appear in front of all you guests, its time to choose the winner!

"Now, what we neglected to tell you about the winner is not only do they get thirty minutes head start, but they have negotiation point in the member trading!" The lack of apparent understanding didn't sway her enthusiasm. "Remember, when I said you would have the option of trading one member of your team for one on the other? Well, tomorrow morning will be the transaction! The people who win will be the ones to propose the offer, and then the other team can either accept or decline.

"Should you accept…Nothing will change. The bedrooms will just belong to the other person, your team name will remain the same, as will your signs, even though your separate names are on them. You will just take the other person's place, exactly as they were. The group who wins will get to win, it doesn't matter what group you were on before."

Hermione froze as Sheila's words washed over her. "Now, we've made a few changes to the new House of Hell you should be arriving at tomorrow night! The first is we've downsized it quite a bit, sorry you six!" She shrugged non-sympathetically. "The second is that there are two sections to it for rooms. The first will be for the Bloody Fuckers and the other will belong to the Pansy Pickers. It will be the same house, your rooms will just be on opposite sides. The last…is that we have a big surprise waiting for you at the end of the trip."

_I completely forgot that we could trade members. This is…It's obvious. They'll trade me for Pansy. Just like that. Tomorrow morning I'll be back with Harry and Ron. This is…wonderful news…_

It seemed that they'd all been taken by surprise, because the males all looked dumbfounded and Pansy just looks shocked. Sheila beckoned them all on and all attention turned to the screen, which lit up for the last time.

_On screen…_

"Hey," Blaise said casually as he stepped into the music room.

"Hello," Jacquelyn said, smiling. "So, Blaise is your name, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good…Mmkay, so…do you play any instruments?"

"Yeah," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Guitar."

"Oh, yeah? Electric or normal?"

"Both."

"Okay. This is good. I don't know guitar, unfortunately, but do you think you'd be able to learn the guitar music fast enough?" She asked, walking over to what appeared to be the closet.

"I…have an ear, I suppose." He said, "There was actually something I wanted to ask you."

"OK," Jacquelyn said and pulled out a guitar.

"I have a song I'd like to do." He said and pulled out his iPod. "I have the song on here and I think I could learn it without music."

She looked up in surprise. "Oh. What song is it?"

"We Might As Well Be Strangers." He responded, unwinding the headphone cord. "Keane."

"Can I hear?" She accepted one headphone and listened silently, barely moving. Finally she tugged it away. "OK, so I'll need to hear you sing it first. If it doesn't work out, you'll have to go with what we have. Do you want to just sing it, first, or try with the guitar?"

He debated both choices for a moment. "Guitar."

She handed it over and backed up, folding her arms across her chest. "One, two, three."

Blaise began to strum, somehow going from memory. There were people who could go by ear, but not many could do an entire song. He began to sing, and a few seconds later Jacquelyn stopped him. Surveying him, she spoke, "You really want this one?"

"Yes." He said firmly.

"OK, well fine. Let's go."

-

"I see you weren't happy with your choices." Marsha said irritably. "What was wrong with those song choices?"

"This one was more important." He said, shrugging.

"I'm sure. Did you and your girlfriend have a fight, then?" She asked sourly.

Blaise smiled crookedly. "Sure."

"Hm. Well, I suppose now I'll have to try and fix this." Her eyes scanned him, his posture, the way he was holding his guitar, and then ordered him on to the stool. "Go now. Play."

She pursed her lips. "Enough. Stop, now!"

He looked up, blinking. She narrowed her eyes at him, before turning away. "That was enough. You're ready for the performance, lets do your group work."

He grinned.

-

"I like the song a lot." Blaise said, "I heard it on a wizard radio station, it was a muggle night or whatnot, and I really liked it. So when Hermione was helping me download music, she used it as an example and I've been listening to it ever since. It's very…it's an emotional song. It means a lot."

He pursed his lips and made a strange squeaking noise, which he held for a moment and then stopped, looking up. "It applies to me well. I just really like it."

-

It showed a small video of him, singing the chorus and playing his guitar contentedly in practice, with all the ease in the world. Then it flashed to his actual performance, where he still somehow looked cool as a cucumber as he sang.

_The image faded away._

"Wow," James said, awe in his voice. "You learned that entire song by ear?"

Blaise looked embarrassed. "Er, yeah."

"You have a beautiful voice." Sheila said, patting his shoulder. "Let's give it up one more time for our wonderful singers!"

The noise was nearly deafening, and yet Hermione felt like she should say something. Even as Sheila thanked them once more, announced their presence backstage and impending leave, and they left the stage to more cheers she was at a complete loss for words. It took a great deal of effort not to let her mouth fall open.

They stood in silence around each other just off the stage, unable to say anything.

"This is…This is great." Pansy said lamely. "I guess I'll get some good company, then. No more Gryffindors."

"Likewise." She said, laughing awkwardly. "No more Slytherins."

"No more crazy, speeding Grangers." Blaise said, pursing his lips and nodding his head forward.

"How exciting." Harry said in a feebly enthusiastic voice.

They lapsed into silence once more as dread pooled in Hermione's stomach.

**Author's Note: I truly, truly apologize for this chapter. Firstly, it's too long. Secondly, there are a lot of lyrics. Thirdly, there's no possible way to read everything in the chapter in time with the actual song if you listen to it, which can be annoying. **

**Review review review!**


	20. Negotiating a Trade

_HAPPY NEW YEAR!_

_Author's Note: There's really no excuse for this. I actually started feeling MISERABLE when I got questions about this story in reviews for TI. I am so, so sorry about the lateness. Who knows, maybe the year of 2009 will hold MUCH faster updates! –snickers somewhat disbelievingly- Oh dear…_

_My science teacher was doing chemistry review (My exams start on the 22__nd__, and then continue to the 27__th__…Oh God…) and he wrote the Bohr Rutherford diagrams for the covalent bond between hydrogen and oxygen (for those of you who know this, I feel your pain!)…And he said, 'So you write the atomic symbols…H…O…H.' and I looked at the board and went, 'OH MY GOD IT'S EVERYWHERE!' _

_Disclaimer: I don't own it. If I did, I'd be fired, and spend the next few years crying myself to sleep. Wait, can authors _be_ fired? _

_Props to my wonderful beta Nikki, who is quite superb._

"Welcome back! We're about to find out who wins the negotiation proposal rights…" Sheila smiled at the two teams from their positions on the stage and then turned to the audience. There had been about a fifteen minute break while packed up the things they'd brought with them. Sheila and James and come over and asked to speak to Blaise, who slipped into the room about a minute before they were told to go back on. Draco asked what they'd wanted, but he'd shrugged and just beamed. "Remember, you voted! The fate of these teams rests in your hands!"

"Hold your breath." James advised, opening a small envelope and pulling out a piece of paper. "And the winner is…"

Hermione inhaled. She'd always scoffed at the attempts hosts and hostesses made to increase the anticipation by extended pauses, but realized that they really did work. How strange it was, to find that things she'd found stupid and a waste of time were actually very effective.

"Hm, it appears that there's a complication!" He said jovially, as though they hadn't _made_ the complication part of the show. "The audience not only voted on the best performance, but who gets the opportunity to make up the exchange…And they're different results!"

She felt a sudden surge of hope and realized that she really, really wanted to win. To know that what they'd done had been appreciated and well met would be indescribable. She wondered if Draco and Blaise felt the same, but when she saw their expressions of barely contained excitement decided it was highly likely.

"Should we let the audience decide on both accounts?" James asked Sheila with a fake look of puzzlement.

"Of course!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, in a way that suggested it hadn't been as shocking as they'd wanted it to seem. "Well, shall we hear the results!?"

Hermione looked at Blaise, whose hands were hooking and unhooking on his jeans to Draco, who was biting his lip in nervousness. Her heart began to speed up and anticipation and her hands clenched on the skirt she was still wearing from her solo.

"The winner of the singing portion of this challenge is…"

A long, tense silence that was filled by the expectant laughter of the crowd.

"The Bloody Fuckers."

She grinned, eyes closing of their own accord as the audience cheered and she, Blaise and Draco pulled into a quick, happy group hug. For a moment she inhaled and a wonderful sense of closeness and warmth surrounded her, and then they pulled apart and looked back at Sheila and James.

"That means that, since the audience made their choice, The Pansy Pickers have negotiation rights!" Even the inevitable trade of Hermione for Pansy couldn't ruin her elation. She was grinning widely, trying not to let out a small shriek of happiness. "Now, if the teams have no further questions?"

No one moved.

"Well, Bloody Fuckers, your half hour starts now! So I suggest you run!"

She was unprepared and it took her mind a moment longer than her body to realize they were supposed to _run_. She took off after the boys as they hurriedly snatched up their bags and such from the dressing room, thankful that they'd already packed up. She stumbled on a chair and dropped a shoe and Blaise nearly ran into the door while tripping Draco and sending him sprawling. However, they'd soon gotten themselves together and over the abruptness of their directions and, after she snatched the sign of the door, were dashing into the parking lot.

Blaise yanked open the side door to the car and threw himself in. She sprinted around the side of the car and took the passenger seat as Draco chucked his armful after Blaise and jumped into the front. As her door slammed shut the sound of the car starting filled her ears and then they were exiting the parking lot and driving onto the empty road. She breathed deeply and opened a window, slumping against the seat.

"Nice of them to give us some warning." Blaise said, slightly out of breath. "I was going to take a few pictures of the dressing room. The mirrors would have reflected the light and the clothes would have-"

"Yes, yes, we know." Draco said, interrupting him. "But there are more important things to discuss. The switch."

They both looked at her and then looked away, causing an awkward silence. "Do we have to elect someone to represent us, then? Or do you think they'll choose?"

"Does it matter?" Hermione interrupted suddenly. "We all know what's going to happen anyway, so who cares who does the actual trade 'acceptance' thing?"

"We haven't discussed it." Draco pointed out, tightening his hands on the car wheel.

"I'm not stupid, Malfoy. You know as well as I do that they're going to ask to trade Pansy for me, it was obvious inside the club, too. You also know as well as I do that whoever is the rep for our team is going to accept. Don't try and pretend you don't." She snapped, not even sure why she was so upset.

"Really? I had no idea you could read minds, Granger." Draco snarled, shooting her an icy glare.

"Well, that's just one more thing you'll have to rejoice in after you'd traded me off."

"_I've_ traded you off? When did _I_ get roped into doing this-"

"What, Malfoy, is saying 'yes' too big of a challenge?"

"If you're the one going why don't you just do it yourself?"

"Because I don't want to!"

"Why not?"

"Would you two stop arguing?" Blaise asked angrily, digging through a duffle bag on the floor. "Obviously none of us are happy about this situation-"

"Yes, some of us are." Hermione said, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm happy. I'll be _glad_ to get away from _him_. Though I'll admit, Blaise, it's been fun hanging around _you._"

Blaise stopped moving and looked up at her, surprising animosity glittering in his eyes. "I'm glad to see you're so nonchalant and uncaring about the whole thing. I'd hate to see you upset at all."

Her patience with him snapped. She could deal with Draco, she'd expected him to react automatically if she used the right tone, but she'd thought Blaise would remain calm. "What's to be upset about? I'll be glad to be away from both of you and your whining. I'm sure being back with Pansy will be very comforting for the both of you, so your fat egos can be stroked."

"I'd rather be with _Potter_ than you. At least _he_ doesn't pretend to be a smart know-it-all." Draco snapped and Hermione felt a moment of hurt. She stood up, hands clenched in fists and pushed past the two seats, Blaise and locked herself in the Confession Box.

She sat down heavily and bit the inside of her cheek, fuming. "I can't believe him! That-inconsiderate-immature-stupid-selfish-blonde-ugly-grey-eyed-_prat_!"

She was breathing heavily from anger and rubbed her temples, trying to calm down. It was such an irrational response, but then, so were all her reactions to things Draco did. He was such an antagonistic person. It was quite unfortunate, really, that they were enemies, because he was one of the few people who could get under her nerves no matter the situation.

"I don't know what his problem is, but by the time I finally get to leave, I'll be happy!" She huffed, hastily wiping her eyes. "I know it probably seems like I'm in tears, but I'm not! I'm just really, really angry!"

She coughed a bit and wiped her eyes again, sniffing. "I'm just angry. There's really nothing to be upset about, because I don't like them at all! They're stupid, annoying gits who are just as arrogant as we always thought they were! I miss Harry and Ron already. When we're together again this whole experience will be a big laugh, and maybe I'll actually start enjoying my time here."

-

-

"Wow. So… the switch. This is cool." Pansy said, nodding. "You'll be free of me, soon!"

"Mmm." Harry replied, eyes fixed on the road. Ron was sitting in the back, texting, and completely ignoring them. The entire show was turning out to be a disappointment. At first he'd been angry, but then he'd realized he could be with Hermione and Ron (and, unfortunately, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini) or with the Dursleys. So he'd warmed up a bit to the idea, especially because they could do magic – or at least, after his birthday. Then they'd introduced the road trip, which he'd been annoyed at because that took magic out of the picture, but he was with Ron. He would have much preferred Hermione to Pansy, but she'd turned out to be OK and he even considered being friends with her.

Until they'd found out about the switch. Both teams had seemed to accept and decide that they would be trading the girls without considering the possibility of leaving the teams. It was fine, he figured, he would be glad to have Hermione back, but it seemed a waste to be rid of Pansy and then lose what traces of friendship was there. It would be exactly like that, too. They would be exactly like that, too. Slytherins versus Gryffindors. Silver versus Gold. It would be so easy to slip back into the roles of hating each other.

Of course, his whole not-hating only extended as far as Pansy, who was still pug faced and stupid.

"So, should I be the one to, you know, tell them what we want?" She asked nervously, biting her lip and twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

"If you want to." He shrugged and Ron didn't seem inclined to join the conversation.

"Ok." She said, nodding. "So, me for Hermione, yeah?"

"I guess." He said, not feeling like talking. She didn't pick up on that, or just ignored it.

"So, I suppose we'll all be happier after the switch."

"Look, Parkinson, I'm trying to drive." He finally snapped, because she was severely lacking Hermione's power of perception. He didn't _want_ to talk to Pansy.

"Oh. Sorry." She said snottily, her previous insecurity disappearing. "I didn't realize you're so stupid you can't drive and talk at the same time."

"Piss off." He snarled and she huffed, stood up and moved to the back seat. Ron took her position, but didn't seem at all interested in talking. He was too involved in the conversation he was having on the phone, which irritated Harry to the point that he wanted to take it, put it under a wheel and run over it a few times.

This show had done wonders for his relationships.

Not.

-

-

The next morning Hermione awoke feeling unsatisfied and distressed. She'd only left the small room to get her bag, a pillow and a blanket. She'd slept in the Confession Box, which wasn't exactly comfortable, given the structure of the chair, but she rebelled instinctively from the idea of being near Draco. She'd had one vivid dream involving him, where he stood alongside her being handed over to Sheila and James in exchange for money while she pleaded for him to forgive her. It wasn't exactly pleasant.

A heavy, resigned and horrible feeling filled her and she realized after a moment it was because of the impending switch. They'd mentioned it would be before they got back to the house, and they had no idea what time that would be…So it could be seconds before she was moved onto The Pansy Pickers' team. How strange, that there would be a team with Pansy in the title, and yet Pansy herself would be a Bloody Fucker. She hadn't realized how much she'd begun to like their team name until she faced losing it.

Pushing a hot, angry emotion away she got up and stretched, grimacing when several bones in her back cracked. She checked her watch and was disturbed to see that it was 10:32. She'd slept in very late. Knowing the two males they'd probably already negotiated her away.

She opened the door crack and spotted Draco sleeping in the back seat, face an innocent mask of peace. He was probably dreaming about her impending loss from their team. His lips quirked in a smile and she wished she could get away with bludgeoning him over the head with something. Preferably heavy. The stupid git.

"Finally decided to come out?" Blaise asked from the front in a neutral voice. She shrugged, which he obviously didn't catch, but she didn't speak.

Draco's body took up the entire seat, so she went and sat in the front beside Blaise. He didn't speak to her and she looked out the window for awhile, holding her pillow to her chest. Drops of rain hit the window and blurred her vision, leaving trails of moisture in her sight. The sky was grey and raindrops began to fall heavily, turning the roads black. It took her a moment to realize that the inside of the car was unfocused as well and that she was crying.

She was being silly. How could she be crying? It was just a television show. It was just Blaise and Draco, for God's sake! She would get to be with Harry and Ron, which was a _good_ thing!

Her tear ducts traitorously continued to release moisture and she was afraid Blaise would notice. She was certainly sniffing enough and she couldn't very well wipe her eyes, because that would be extremely obvious.

A flash drew her attention and she turned incredulously to Blaise, her crying momentarily forgotten. "Did you just take a picture of me?"

"Er, yes." He said, dropping a camera to the floor. "But it was a really great shot."

"I don't care about really great shots!" She exclaimed angrily, resisting the urge to throw the camera out the window. "I don't care! You can't just take pictures of people without their consent!"

"It _was _a good shot, though. I'll show it to you, and you'll see why." He said, as though what she was saying meant nothing.

"Don't take pictures of me," she snapped, "It's rude. Especially when I- Just don't take pictures of me, alright?"

A silence filled the car and she wondered if he regretted setting her off like that. She was horrified to find that the anger had just made her eyes water more and she was finding it difficult to stop. Rain pattered against the roof and windows and she was feelings very cold from the air conditioner. She turned it off and turned on the radio, but hated the song playing and turned it back off.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Blaise's voice sounded hesitant and she was startled.

"Erm, no thanks." She said, sounding congested.

"You look like you could use a cup of tea." He said quietly. "I'm sorry about the picture."

"Sure." She said, "But no tea. We don't have time."

"We're almost there." He replied in his low voice, as though he was afraid to wake up Draco. "They phoned and said that there was no prize for whoever gets there first, and so whenever the last team arrives is when we'll start."

"Oh." She stared out the window, hardly noticing when Blaise pulled up to a coffee shop, struggled his way through asking for something and then somehow paid the woman at the drive thru, who instead of looking annoyed eyed him up through the window.

Hermione was shocked when she saw three cups glide through the window on a tray and, after peeking in the mirror, saw Draco sitting up, clearly awake. He avoided her eyes and she avoided his in favour of opening up the lid of her cup and inhaling. The heat cleared her mind and it smelled like raspberries.

There was a stiff, hard silence in the car as Blaise continued to drive, and her heart began to beat frantically as he pulled into a driveway. "This is it."

There was no fighting about opening the door; she pulled it open immediately and walked down the corridor alone. The two males followed her quietly and she wondered what they were thinking. Inside the only door there were two vacant tables and, leaning casually against them, were Sheila and James.

"Hello, Bloody Fuckers!" Sheila said, though she looked a bit sorry to see them. Hermione hoped they hadn't been shagging against the table. That thought alone made her grimace, which did not go unnoticed by Draco, but he probably interpreted it as a reaction to something else. "You've arrived first, so we might have to wait a bit for the other group. The last time we checked in with them, they were in a bit of a state…Anyways, make yourselves comfortable!"

"Can I just go sit in their table, since we all know that's going to be the result of this whole affair?" She asked, knowing she was being a rude and childish.

"I'm afraid not; you're still a member of the Bloody Fuckers' team." Sheila gave her a small, reassuring smile. "You can't write history before its happened, hun!"

"Yeah, well, history is too easily predictable." She said darkly, before taking a seat at their table. It was silent.

"You know, I think we'll start the interviews." James said, "I'm sensing some tension."

Sheila caught their confused looks. "We want to have a bit of progress interviews, and since the competition is in a bit of a toss up right now, we thought it would be a good time for people to sort out their thoughts."

"Does anyone want to start?" He asked and she jumped to her feet, eager to get away from Draco and his imploring grey eyes. "Well, Hermione, your enthusiasm is very becoming!"

"Thanks," she said, hurrying after Sheila across the room and through another door. It was a small and had a comfortable looking couch and a chair in front of it. She took the couch.

"So, Hermione." Sheila said, picking up a professional tone. "How have you been enjoying the latest challenge?"

"It was awful at first," she shrugged, "But I suppose none of us is dead yet, so it was somewhat successful."

"Hm, you're very optimistic." The other female said and Hermione just laughed. "What do you think of your team mates?"

"Well, we've never really gotten along, but we were doing better for awhile…" She said, trying not to give a long answer in fear that it would prompt a rant.

"Come on, Hermione! We're talking, girl to girl! I know you've been having some problems, you must want to talk to someone about it." Sheila smiled confidentially.

"Well, fine." She assented. "Honestly? I think this whole trading this is bogus. If you were going to let us switch teams, then why would you put us in these positions at the start? I'm really tired of fighting with Malfoy all the time and with Blaise taking pictures of me and acting, well, so promiscuous. It would be so much easier to be on a team where we all got along."

"Very understandable." The older woman said empathically. "So, who do you think should go?"

"I guess me." She said, "I'm the problem. They get along, so they'll be happier with Pansy."

"I see." For some reason her interviewer looked annoyed. "Well, thank you Hermione. Please return to your group."

She nodded and left, pleasantly surprised to see Harry and Ron had arrived. She joined them at their table, smiling. "Hello, you two!"

"Hi." Ron and Harry mumbled, looking a bit harassed.

"Are you OK? They mentioned you were in a 'state.'" She inquired, crossing her legs and leaning back.

"Yeah. Parkinson just got a bit annoyed with us-"

"For no reason!" Ron inserted helpfully, "She was criticising his _driving_."

"And we got pulled over by the police. She started flipping out." Harry finished glumly. "And now she's in a snit over there. We didn't do anything."

"Hm." She glanced at the blond, who looking very angry and was gesturing wildly with her arms. Blaise – Draco had gone to be interviewed – just nodded. "I suppose emotions are just running high."

"I guess."

They talked easily, but she was distracted. There was a buzzing in her head and she kept looking over at the other table. The interviews progressed in periods of a few minutes, and when finally Ron – who was last to go – returned, she and Pansy were made return to their teams' tables. She couldn't bring herself to meet the eyes of Blaise and Draco, and when Sheila began talking she focused intently on her words.

"Well, wasn't that fun?" She asked, and it seemed to be a rhetorical question. "If there are no objections, we shall proceed onward! If the Pansy Pickers will now state who they want to trade, we'll get this show on the road! Pun intended!"

No one laughed. Pansy stood up and moved to a small podium James had conjured up. Draco had snorted when they'd done it and Hermione had smiled, but their eyes had met across the table and suddenly it had been less funny. "We've decided to negotiate my trade for Hermione's." Pansy said, and stepped back, sitting down.

"Now, before the Bloody Fuckers respond, we have a few video clips to show." Sheila and James both beamed with their fake smiles and then turned their attention to a conveniently appearing television screen. The lights dimmed slightly and Hermione could have sighed. It was so cliché.

The series of clips was pretty much anything interesting they'd said in their interviews. It showed them all saying who they thought should be traded – it was the same for all of them, Hermione and Pansy, though there was general hesitation before answering. Except with Hermione. She realized as she watched that she looked completely unfazed and spoke matter-of-factly. Both parties were intensely relieved when the lights turned back on, and Hermione began to wish she hadn't come on this show.

"Now, we'll give the Bloody Fuckers one minute to deliberate and make your decision."

They looked at each other. "We discussed it in the car." She said and they both nodded. "Well, I guess we're done."

James insisted they wait the full minute, and then asked Draco up to the podium. He stood up and walked casually up, as though he was walking around a park. Except, Hermione mused, a park was probably too undignified for him. Maybe his manor grounds, or a palace.

"On behalf of the Bloody Fuckers," he said, "I decline."

Hermione had already half stood up and her head whipped around to face him. He merely shrugged and then strolled back to their table and sat down. "Alright, Granger? You look like you're having a stroke."

She sat down, hard. _What? Did he just _decline_? Is that even _allowed_? _She was frozen in shock. The whole situation seemed so dramatic and exaggerated. It was a _switch _of their groups, groups that none of them were supposed to like being in. And yet she felt a staggering emotion, like relief, and wondered why it was she even _wanted_ to stay with them.

But she did, which was slightly worrisome.

Slightly.

-

-

When they climbed back into the car, they were all laughing at a joke Blaise had said and she felt wonderful. It must have been because they would be getting back to the house within the day, and then being able to walk around and eat decent food, though she admitted some of it might have been because they'd kept her. Draco had kept her. The past few weeks made her cringe when she thought about all the time they'd spent, just driving. It was a miracle none of them had gone mental.

She considered her powerful reluctance to leave her team and decided that maybe she had liked their time, just not in an obvious way. They'd had interesting experiences, certainly, and it would be cause for some great memories. After their laughter subsided and they'd pulled out onto the road – it went unnoticed by no one that the cars went in opposite directions – a question burned on her lips and she couldn't help but ask it. "So, Malfoy, why did you decline?"

He was silent. "I don't know. We make a good team, the three of us."

She couldn't stop a grin from forming on her face. "I suppose we do."

"Wow, this is so emotional." Blaise said sarcastically, "It's so overwhelming that all our feelings are out in the open."

"Oh, piss off." Draco said crossly.

"You're just mad because I pointed out your social awkwardness in the face of emotional speaking." Blaise said smugly and Hermione snickered. Draco glared at her, but she shrugged and laughed, which made him smile.

"Hopeless imbeciles." Blaise muttered under his breath.

-

-

It was 3:11 that afternoon when Hermione got the call. She hadn't known what to expect when the ring filled the car and the puzzled expression on her team mates' faces were enough to ensure her that they felt the same. She answered it with hesitation, hoping it wasn't Sheila and James, announcing another surprise.

But, strangely enough, it wasn't. When Hermione later reflected on it, she would wish that it had been them, because of everyone, they at least had good excuses for deception.

"Hermione? It's Pansy."

"Pansy?" She asked in surprise. The two males looked at her questioningly.

"Yeah, look, I really need to talk to you."

"To me?" She asked, and shrugged off their expressions. "Not one of the guys-"

"No!" She burst out. "Er, no. I need, a, er, girl talk."

"Girl talk?" Hermione asked dubiously.

"Look, I really need to talk to someone and you were the first person I thought of, because you're trustworthy." Pansy said, somewhat snappily. "I'm sorry if it's inconvenient, I'll try someone else."

"No, of course not!" She said, "I'm willing to listen, of course."

Silence.

"Really?"

"Of course." She replied, soothingly. "What is it you wanted to tell me?"

"Well, that's the thing. I don't want to say it in front of the boys, so I'm in a bathroom in a coffee shop. You know how the cameras can't go into bathrooms."

"Oh." Hermione was taken aback.

"Yeah…And I don't want anyone on your side to hear what I say either. It's really, really personal and important to me. I was wondering if you would pull over, too, and then we'd be even. Neither of us would be driving anywhere and we'd still have this talk."

It took her two seconds to reply. "Sure, of course. I'll call you back in a few minutes."

"OK."

"Bye, Pansy."

"Wait!"

"Yeah?" She asked, frowning in confusion.

"Never mind."

"OK," she said, closing the phone.

It took about twenty minutes to convince Blaise and Draco to pull over, and how important it was. When she finally resorted to asking if they thought Pansy was lying, there had been a long pause. Finally, she'd said, 'look, this is important. I need to talk to Pansy.' Draco had turned wordlessly into a parking lot.

She'd called Pansy as soon as she locked the door to the cubicle. It rang once. "Hermione?"

"Yes, its me." She replied, laying out two layers of toilet paper on the seat of the toilet and then sitting on it, grimacing.

"Oh." There was a silence, and Hermione could almost hear Pansy opening and closing her mouth. "I didn't think you would."

"You asked me to." She pointed out.

"I know."

There was another silence and Hermione became worried. "Pansy, is something the matter? Is it serious? You can tell me."

"My parents are divorcing." Pansy said suddenly, and then her words became nearly too slurred for her to understand. "Well, not really but they might as well."

"Pansy, wait. Slow down, I can barely understand. Take a deep breath." Hermione enunciated slowly. "Start again."

"My parents have a really bad relationship." Pansy said quietly, and then continued for quite a long time. It started with Pansy's parents. They seemed to have become completely estranged and couldn't stay in the same room with the other without fighting. More often than not, Pansy had confided tearfully to her, the fighting was about Pansy, while she was in the same room. She feared that her mother was involved in an affair, and didn't want to have to choose between the two of them.

She continued on to how insecure she felt about Riley, and how she felt for him but was sure he didn't feel for her, and how difficult it would be to have a relationship when he lived so far away and was home schooled. Her dread that her friendships with Draco and, to Hermione's surprise, Blaise were deteriorating and that her life was really not turning out the way she'd been hoping and expecting.

Hermione listened in silence, except for occasionally saying soothing and encouraging things. Finally, Pansy stopped talking. "Is that all?" The Gryffindor asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah. Are you still in the bathroom?"

"Yes," she replied, smiling and feeling the wonderful glow of a new friendship inside her. "You know, I'm really glad that you felt like you could trust me with that. If you ever need to talk, let me know. Maybe when we get back to the house, we can talk in person?"

"Yeah, OK. Look, I have to go." Pansy said quickly and then the line went dead. Hermione stared at her phone in complete confusion. _That was so…abrupt. _She waited a minute or so to see if the Slytherin would call her back, but she didn't and with a frown she left the bathroom.

"About time!" Draco exclaimed the second she'd emerged. "You've been in there for nearly two hours!"

"Sorry." She said, "It was important."

"We need to hurry." Blaise exclaimed, tugging on Draco's arm and hurrying outside. "We've lost travel time, so we'll arrive at the house later than we were going to..."

She followed them and was walking to the driver's seat when Blaise intercepted her. "I'm driving."

"Is this about the whole police thing?" She asked, still struggling to figure out why Pansy had talked to her for so long and then hung up abruptly, unless she'd been embarrassed?

"No, I just like driving. It helps me think."

She conceded, opening the door to the back and trying to slip her phone into her pocket. Unfortunately she missed and, after closing the door behind her, looked under the seat for it. She was surprised to notice the outline of her cell phone and something round. It was a WCube. One of them must have not realized they'd brought it and dropped it.

She pulled it out and, with a speculative look at Draco and Blaise, hurried into the Confession Box, before turning it on impatiently. It didn't take her long to find the twenty four hour channel, which had apparently been one of the added bonuses of being on the show, because she knew that viewers had to buy a subscription to it.

When she saw what was happening on the screen, her blood ran cold.

"Drive!" She yelled, pushing the door open and dashing into the main part of their vehicle. "Oh my God, quick!"

"Granger?" Draco looked alarmed. "Are you OK?"

"No!" She gasped, "No, Pansy was lying! They hadn't stopped, they'd been driving the _entire_ time! We're going to lose!"

-

-

Hermione sat in the front beside Draco, completely silent. She'd driven for a few hours and then Draco had taken over for several more, but she still didn't recognize anything they passed. It was completely her fault. She'd been so naïve and foolish, how could she possibly think that Pansy had just wanted to _talk_ to her? Everything she'd said had been a lie, and she'd eaten it all up.

They'd barely spoken after Blaise had freaked out and then assured her that she wasn't to blame, but she couldn't help but feel that they were accusing her of sabotaging them, even if they were silent. After all, it had been their pick of who the team would bring on the show if they won, it had been obvious that they wouldn't agree to someone she suggested, and she hadn't minded too much, because she knew that if the other team won they'd bring on Ginny, so it had been even.

"It's not your fault." Draco said suddenly. "It's not like you would have known she was going to stab you in the back."

She was at a loss for words and turned to look at him. Instead of replying to his statement, she opened her mouth to say something about how she liked being around him, however their GPS interrupted before she could say anything.

'Turn right at the next driveway, you have reached your destination.' They all stiffened and her heart began to beat frantically. Draco turned up a driveway. It was lined with pretty trees, blooming with pink blossoms and the grass was a luscious green. It turned ever so slightly at the end, hiding their new house from view. They turned the corner and, before she noticed anything else, she saw that the driveway was empty. Hope filled her, but of course they wouldn't just display that The Pansy Pickers had won.

The house itself was quite a bit smaller, though much longer, which was probably to accommodate the division of their teams. It looked much more approachable and cosy than the other one had, though. The walls were a light brick with a black shingled roof and it had only two floors. A beautiful garden drew attention to a purple door, and at the front, facing the yard was a porch made of white stucco. She admired it, however her thoughts were elsewhere.

They came to a stop.

"I guess this marks the end of the road trip." Draco said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, yeah, but we don't have much time for this." Blaise said quickly, opening the door. "If there's a chance we could win, do you want to spoil it with the fact that we had no idea there were two driveways?"

That had them moving pretty fast, however they were intercepted by Sheila and James. "Hello, Bloody Fuckers! We're glad to see you made it back." James smiled indulgently at them. "We've got a special room set aside for you, and your belongings will be brought in later. Grab anything important from your car, you've now been recorded as arrived so it doesn't matter if you aren't in the house immediately."

She brought her purse with her and saw the two males grab duffle bags, before they were led into the house. The air conditioning was a nice relief and it felt strange to be somewhere she knew she would be for awhile, as opposed to the motels they'd stopped in.

They were left in a small sitting room, completely devoid of colour, and they waited, the minutes ticking by. She pulled out a book, but was completely unsatisfied with its lack of comfort and distraction. With each passing minute she wondered if maybe they were actually waiting for the other group, and not just spending the time so neither team felt confident.

"Is this anticipation killing you?" Draco asked her and she looked up, laughing and nodding.

"Yeah. I'm really looking forward to yelling at Pansy." She said, crossing her arms. They both eyed her speculatively. "I'm really annoyed. It's a good thing Harry and Ron didn't know…but then, I doubt they would do that."

"This show brought out the worst in you, Granger." Draco said, smirking.

"Fortunately," she said, "There was nothing 'worst' left in _you_ to bring out."

He snickered. "Girls love it."

"Keep on telling yourself that." She said, shaking her head in mock exasperation.

"Oh, I will-"

"Bloody Fuckers, we're ready for you." Sheila popped her head in. "Follow me…"

They continued through a kitchen – Hermione hardly had time to look around – and found themselves in a sitting room. The Pansy Pickers entered from the other side. When Hermione saw Pansy she glared outright, and the other girl seemed to realize that Hermione knew.

She sat down beside Draco and turned away from that team. Harry and Ron seemed confused by the chilly greeting and kept trying to meet her eyes, until she smiled slightly at them in reassurance and then turned back away.

"Welcome to the new House of Hell!" James said, as he and Sheila stood, facing them. "We have a lot of things that need discussing."

"However," Sheila said, "I'm sure what you'd really like to know is who won the competition, right?"

"Yeah," they said or nodded in response.

"Well, we decided to add some dramatic flair into the prize!" James said, unsurprisingly, beaming. "In true HOH fashion, we don't believe in waiting! So, someone is just outside this room, ready to walk through and join one of these teams."

"The person who walks through that door signifies the winning team." His pretty wife said, and let it sink in. "Are you ready to find out the winner and the person who'll share the House of Hell with you?"

"Yes." She said out loud and there was a bit of nervous laughter as they collectively leaned in.

"Alright, we're ready!"

It seemed as if everything was in slow motion. The door knob turned slowly and then clicked as the door opened quickly and bounced off the wall. The only thing keeping it from closing again was the person coming through.

"Honey, I'm _home_!"

_Author's Note: Hm, so the next chapter, I've decided, is the interlude chapter, with the reactions of different people…But don't worry, its almost completely done. XD. I sort of multi tasked between this chapter and that one, because it helped focus my energy._

_You have one last chance to go vote in the poll on my profile about who's coming on before you find out! The results have actually REALLY surprised me, but you'll realize why later…_

_Review review review!_


	21. From the Outside

**Author's Note: This interlude is basically a chapter that show how the family and friends of our wonderful HOH 'guests' act in regards to the show and all that. Any odd behaviour you see will be explained later on, so if anything strikes you as really weird, don't worry about it.**

**Here are the results of the poll, I figured you might want to see them (I'm taking it down now). Thanks very much to everyone who voted!**

_**In the House of Hell, you think this person should be voted on by the winner of the road trip, or pick your top three choices:**_

**Luna Lovegood **_(20 votes, 22%)_

**Theodore Nott **_(18 votes, 20%)_

**Ginny Weasley **_(9 votes, 10%)_

**Seamus Finnegan **_(8 votes, 9%)_

**Helga Humphrey (Draco's 'friend') **_(7 votes, 8%)_

**Riley Montgommery (Pansy's friend) **_(6 votes, 6%)_

**Other **_(6 votes, 6%)_

**Neville Longbottom **_(5 votes, 5%)_

**Dean Thomas **_(4 votes, 4%)_

**Gregory Goyle **_(2 votes, 2%)_

**Vincent Crabbe **_(1 vote, 1%)_

**Colin Creevey **_(1 vote, 1%)_

**Millicent Bullstrode **_(No votes)_

**While I was watching the votes tally up, I was just cackling somewhat evilly. I got a lot of people saying no to Ginny in reviews, though. xD. I also got a lot of people wondering if it was Helga. **

**Props to my wonderful beta Nikki, who also loves skittles…xD.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**-**

_The Grangers_

"Honey, the show's going to start soon." Jane called out from the kitchen, checking her watch. She smoothed down her spotted pink lounge pants as the microwave dinged. "The popcorn is done."

"Just in time." He strolled into the room and kissed her on the cheek, pulling it from the microwave. "Let's go."

They settled themselves on the couch and turned on the television. Sheila and James's voices announced what had been going on with each team and then the show's introductory song and clips played. "Oh, good, I love the song! Hermione looks great in it." Jane munched on some popcorn and added, "It seems she's doing well. Those boys certainly are a handful."

"So's a gun." Her husband muttered darkly, drawing his fingers together in a steeple and Jane laughed softly in response.

"Ooh, she looks happy there." She pointed to the image of Hermione, beaming. "Her hair looks _splendid_ in that bun."

"Mm." Her husband said, nodding in a way that suggested he was agreeing to placate his wife. "Well, I'm glad to see she's doing OK. I've got my daily quota of the show, now."

"Me, too." She agreed, "Is 'It's Witchcraft,' on? Ever since they installed these Wizarding channels, I've become rather fond of it. We've only missed three minutes, too."

"Of course." He murmured, feeling warmth at the sight of his companion and knowing that his daughter was happy and enjoying herself. They hadn't known if they were making the right choice in letting her go on the show, but now their worries were silenced. "To be honest, I don't really understand this show."

"We hardly watch it." She said in answer, shrugging. "It seems almost an invasion of privacy. I don't imagine the other parents watch it, either."

-

_The Malfoys_

"Mudblood." Lucius said immediately as Hermione's face appeared in the song. Narcissa merely watched through slanted eyes, her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"You do realize, Lucius, that if the events on this…program, continue, we may have to make accommodations?" She asked slowly as the projection displayed her son, smiling with the Muggleborn. His eyes were bright and he looked happier than he'd ever been at home.

"For what?" He asked, oblivious to what she was suggesting. She turned her cool eyes to him and then back at the screen, deciding that it would be advisable to change the topic. Her husband disliked when people tried to be subtle and make important points, and it was not a discussion she even thought was necessary. Yet.

"I need new dress robes for tonight. Come shopping with me. We'll have dinner." She stood up, smoothing down her robes with manicured hands and fixing her already impeccable hair. "There is no point in lingering over what is going on, when we can do nothing to prevent it from happening."

"Of course." Even when alone their speech was formal and to an outsider their actions would appear cold and distant. However, the light touch that Lucius placed on the small of her back and the smile that graced her previously icy face indicated their comfort and happiness with each other. Not many couples had a way of communicating so soundlessly and with such ease.

Obviously they did have their blind spots, though. Lucius had no idea what his wife had been referring to, but it had not seemed important so he dismissed it. Some things were not worth dwelling on. _I suppose those plebeian blood traitors have all gathered in their little rabbit hole to watch the show. I doubt that they have anything better to do, unlike my wife and I. _

"Come, Lucius." Narcissa said and the couple left the room, each lost in thought.

-

_The Weasleys_

"We have five minutes!" Fred Weasley called out from his position in the living room.

"Where's Ginny?" Percy asked, uncomfortably shoved into the edge of the sofa. He was holding parchment and a quill in one hand and his glasses were perched precariously on the edge of his nose. Percy, Fred, George and their Dad were crammed into one sofa, so needless to say he was less than comfortable.

"Ginny!" Molly's voice called up the stairs, "The show is soon to start!"

She hurried into the room and sat in a rocking chair with a cup of tea, looking excitedly at the projection screen from George's WCube. "Oh, this _is_ interesting, isn't it? Seeing Ron on this show!"

"I'm so proud!" George simpered tearfully. "Our little Ronniekins, all grown up!"

"Oh, shush up, George, its starting!" Molly said, beaming as the song came on.

"If Ginny's not here, I don't see why _I_ should be." Percy said, "I have work to do-"

"Oh, stuff it, Percy." George shushed him and the elder Weasley looked affronted. "Go find her, then. _We're_ watching."

"Fine." He said crossly, folding up his parchment, and walking towards the staircase. "Ginny?"

"Yeah?" She called back and didn't wait for a response. "I know, I know, give me one second!"

He rolled his eyes and made his way up the stairs. He heard scurrying around and as his hand turned on her doorknob she spoke up, sounding harried. "I'm not decent, Percy!"

He waited a minute and then walked in. She had clothes piled up on her bed and a tatty suitcase half-open on top of it. "Are you packing?" He asked incredulously.

"Erm, no!" She exclaimed, flushed, and sat uncomfortably on the suitcase, as though it would hide evidence of what she'd been doing. "I'm, er, well, I'm going over to Luna's tonight!"

He almost bought it. Ginny was a girl, after all, and girls were obsessed with clothes. It wouldn't surprise him that she would spend so much time packing. However, he knew how religiously she watched the show, because the twins had insisted in turning it into some ridiculous form of 'family bonding' and threatened him if he didn't come and join them. She wouldn't miss it for something somewhat insignificant.

"What are you really doing?" He asked, crossing his arms and looking menacingly at her.

"Going to Luna's." She said promptly, her face scarlet.

"Luna and her father went to Greece to look up one of their silly creatures. You told us this a few days into the summer." He narrowed his eyes threateningly. "Are you going to meet a boy? Because so help you _Merlin_ I will-"

"Will what?" She challenged, and he was momentarily self conscious of the fact that he'd never actually fought with someone before. But this was a case of his baby sister's _honour_.

"I'll set the twins on him." He said and her eyes widened. "Is it Corner? The stupid prat, I thought you were done with him-"

"OK, if I tell you, promise not to tell anyone else." She said, eyes shifting. "Yesterday, I got an owl from Sheila and James. From _the _show."

"I _know_ who they are." He said testily. "What has it got to do with you?"

"You know the challenge they're doing right now? The prize for it…" She lowered her voice and began to explain.

-

_Parvati, Padma and Lavender_

"Oh my _God_ it's on in…" Parvati paused mid sentence and checked her watch, where a countdown was taking place. "Three minutes and twenty two seconds!"

"Oh _God_, I'm so excited!" Lavender nearly jumped, "Is the popcorn done? It's the extra buttery kind, right?"

"Yep!" Padma said from the kitchen.

"Mmm. Butter." Lavender sighed, dreamily. "Salt…"

"Stop it! Before you start craving chocolate!" Parvati ordered, wrapping her silky black hair around a thick roller.

"Too late." The blonde said, slipping her feet into slippers.

"Great! Because I bought some earlier today!" The girls laughed indulgently, despite the fact that it wasn't exactly funny. "This is such a great tradition! We've got to do this every day!"

"Every day?" Padma frowned. "Parvati, the amount of unhealthy-"

"No! Don't go all Ravenclaw on me now!" Parvati exclaimed, waving her arms wildly. "I'm joking! _Obviously_ we can't eat like this every day."

They paused, contemplating actually doing that, and then Padma checked the time. "Thirty five seconds!"

Squealing, they grabbed bowls of popcorn, candy and bricks of chocolate. Once they'd gotten settled on the plush carpet in the twins' bedroom the song for HOH began. Immediately, Lavender began to sing, joined quickly by the melodious voice of Padma and the higher, airy voice of her sister. The three watched, transfixed, as images played against the wall and then swooned when Draco's face appeared. "Oh…My…God…" Lavender said as she touched her own hair, which was curled around warm coils of metal.

"Exactly." Sighed Parvati, and Padma just laughed. A small commercial break broke in right at the end and they eyed each other, and then the food. "What happens here must never be spoken of."

"Agreed." The other two nodded and with excitement they snatched up handfuls of buttery popcorn, leaving greasy streaks on their hands and clothes.

"Mmm." Parvati said happily, munching the salty deliciousness in her mouth. "They should _so_ serve this at Hogwarts…"

"Mmmhmm!" Padma said enthusiastically. The show came back on and they watched Blaise talk dryly in the confession box about Pansy talking to Hermione for an hour and a half, and how Pansy's team had also stopped and they were getting nowhere. "Wait, they've stopped?" She stared in horror at the television screen.

The screen changed to Pansy in the confession box, speaking but no sounds coming out. And then to Ron and Harry, who complained that it was her turn to drive but she'd been in the confession box for well over an hour. "They're still going." Padma breathed, just as Parvati said, in exactly the same tone, "I feel so _betrayed_!"

"You stupid whore! I trusted you!" Lavender jumped to her feet and pointed to the screen angrily, "I thought you were on our side!" She dug out another handful of popcorn and topped it off with a few gummy worms, chewing furiously.

"Lavender, you're turning to food for comfort." Padma said wisely, "You think it will help you get over this, but it won't."

"I'm not going to be able to wear my school robes back!" The blond wailed, "I'm going to be so obese!"

"Obese. You sound so clever." Parvati said enviously and looked with horror at the few unpopped kernels in their bowl. "Oh, no. We've eaten all the popcorn! In five minutes!"

She'd barely finished when the microwave dinged. "I put some more in. I thought this might happen." The wiser of the three said, "No one will judge you if you go get it, Lav. Even though the show hasn't gone to commercial, yet."

The blond nodded and then dashed to the kitchen. Parvati gave her loud play by play accounts of what was happening on screen until she came back. After chewing a sour key heartedly, the Gryffindor Patil sighed. "Muggle candy is truly the best."

"Cheers." The others said, eyes glued to the screen.

-

_The Dursleys_

"This is not the news." Vernon Dursley said grumpily as the letters HOH popped up on the screen. To his horror, images of teenagers began to strut all over the screen and he let out a loud roar of rage when Harry's face appeared. "It's cursed! The bloody television is cursed!"

"What?" Dudley asked, as close to real tears as he'd ever been, lumbering into the room. "Can I still watch my shows? I _need_ to see them. What the fuck-"

"No swearing!" Petunia said nervously, her horse-like features accentuated by her unease, laying a hand on her son's shoulder. "Of course it will work. His kind are probably just disrupting satellite frequencies. That's what they do, with their strange behaviour."

"Fix it! I need it fixed!" Dudley's chins began to wobble.

"Oh, shush, Dudley!" Vernon roared in outrage as the hideous images filled the screen. "They said we'd be rid of him-"

"_Vernon_, the neighbours will hear you!" Petunia whispered, looking over her shoulder at the window and into the quiet evening of Private Drive. "We _mustn't_ cause a situation."

"A situation!? That boy is on our television! He's everywhere! Probably right outside the house!" He looked around wildly and began to lift up silver objects around the house. He finally got Petunia to take the tin foil and cover the door and windows, and accidentally triggered their neighbour's – who had gone to Cuba - security alarm when Dudley threw a tantrum and tossed his fifthteenth digital camera out the window. The family, believing it was some sort of invasion signal, began to scream.

Eventually, Mrs. Figg became aware of the disturbance and the Ministry of Magic had to get involved. They cancelled the Wizarding channels on the television and gave the Dursleys short term mind wipes. By the end of the night, the only evidence of what had occurred was in the Ministry of Magic, as the late shift workers guffawed over the foolishness of a certain family of unnamed muggles.

-

_Mrs. Zabini_

Blaise's mother smoothed down her dress and stared at the small orb sitting innocently in front of her, resting on the deep, glossy wood of her desk. As though it was not tempting her, promising the news and sights and words from her son that she craved. As though the very opportunity it held did not increase her regret and then defensiveness and only offered happiness and comfort. As thoughshe could just casually pick it up, turn it on and watch the show without being faced, once again, by her guilt.

No one was there.

No one would know if she just took a look.

It was her right.

He was her son.

Was_ my son. _She corrected automatically, now from habit and not obligation. _Until he revealed the monstrosity that he is. The shame he has brought upon me… Now he is just a boy. A boy I have no business concerning myself with._

She stood up and swept the orb roughly off her desk, paced back and forth in front of it and then sat back down. Her hands reached for parchment and she wrote instinctively, not focusing on what words were appearing on the parchment. She had not realized she had addressed it to Blaise until she had written half a paragraph, apologizing and begging for him to come back.

With an agonized huff she threw it in the fire, her composure shattering as she fell onto her knees and began to hunt around on the floor, hands scrabbling against the hard wood for the orb – her only connection to him. He was the only male she had ever been able to love, yet it was a love so different from that she simulated with male suitors. He was her child – her flesh and blood.

With shaking hands she found it under the desk and opened it. It was already on the channel she wanted from the previous night and it showed, with amazing quality, the beauty of her son. His every emotion, displayed in his eyes if one looked closely – just like the hurt and betrayal she had seen in them_ that_ day. She remembered the day she had disowned him like it was yesterday. In the clip, he was talking with a lazy elegance he must have received genetically from his father.

An aching pain slowly enveloped her heart and, for the umpteenth time since she had seen the first episode of the show, she put her head in her hands and cried.

-

_Theodore Nott_

Theodore Nott sat alone in his room, the cherry wood floors, dressers and bed posts surrounding him positively leaking extravagance. His attention was focused not on his surroundings but solely on the image across the room; projected onto a wall. His eyes were narrowed and he frowned as Pansy turned away from the camera, still speaking into her cellphone. The unsuspecting, exasperated faces of Draco and Blaise were talking about meaningless things while Pansy was cheating and getting away with it.

Theo absently traced the thorns inked on his skin and bit his lip thoughtfully. He was enraptured by the screen. It looked so fascinating; all colours and sounds and so bright. He was even able to see people who weren't with him as though they were _beside_ him. It was astonishing that the WCube had been based off a Muggle invention. Astonishing and slightly unreal.

Suddenly, quicker than last time, he couldn't look away. His eyes remained transfixed at the images on the screen and he was frozen, unable to breathe, until the camera angle changed and he could suck in a deep breath. He was thinking of investigating the health of his lungs, actually, because that had been happening abnormally often.

With an absentminded 'hmm,' he stood up and began to pace around the room, his body tense and his energy high. He hoped he didn't have some sort of panic attack disorder.

_I wonder if they've arrived yet._

-

_Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas_

"Any other summer plans?" Dean asked Seamus from where they lounged on the sofa in his room. "Besides visiting family, and all?"

"Naw." Seamus said, shrugging. "It'll be such a bore…Hey, d'you want to come?"

"To your family reunions?" The dark skinned male asked, not willing to admit that the prospect wasn't very exciting. Seamus's family often had one large, two week family gathering where they all went to someone's home and spent time together. The fact that they only did it once a year was explainable by pointing out the two week time span.

"Yeah! They'll love you, I know it! You should teach us how to play football, we could have some games! I wanted you to come last year, but then we vacationed in Greece, right!" The Irish male was getting excited; the increase in the speed of his speech was a sure sign.

"Are you sure they'd want me there? Isn't your family kind of…exclusive?"

"Trust me, they'll love you, its impossible not to!" Seamus waved on his concern, leaning in. "You'll know for sure when they start asking if you've got a girl. If not, they'll want to set you up with someone in the family."

"No, thanks." Dean said hastily and Seamus looked slightly hurt. "I just mean…Er, well, you know, with… Ginny and I over so…y'know…soon...ago"

"Yeah, of course. Must be hard." He said sourly and Dean frowned. Seamus had never seemed jealous of his relationship with Ginny before. Of course, that could have been because she'd always seemed to be thinking about Harry, a deciding factor in the end of their romance. "You should come, though. I'd prefer if you did, my cousins are all such bores…"

"Is that supposed to encourage me to get with one?"

"I thought you were struggling with your unrequited love for Ginny?" Seamus asked mockingly. Dean hit him with a pillow. "OK, OK. Sorry."

"I'll ask mum." His friend said, "She'll be home later tonight."

"Cool!" The other Gryffindor beamed and then glanced at Dean slyly, the appearance of nonchalance in his casual sitting position. "You know, HOH is on. Fancy catching a bit of it? It'll be good to see how Hermione and Harry and Ron are, yeah?"

"Might as well, we're not doing anything else." Dean responded with an equal amount of indifference. "Let's go."

"Oh, cool, we didn't miss the song." Seamus said enthusiastically and shrugged when his dark skinned friend raised an eyebrow. "Might as well watch the whole thing. Besides, it looks really cool when Harry fights the guards."

"Really? I think the part where it shows the car chase is the best-" He broke off, slightly embarrassed. "Do you watch it a lot?"

His friend snorted. "Every bloody day."

"Me, too!" Dean admitted, and they grinned.

"So, who do you think is going to win?" Seamus asked, settling back into the soft couch.

"Probably Harry's team." Dean said slowly as they watched the show, halting when something caught his eyes. His Irish friend looked outraged and their jaws dropped. "She's cheating! She's - she just lied and said they'd stopped!"

"That _cow_." Seamus said, aghast, and repositioned himself again. "This is the most interesting episode yet!"

"This is even better than the last one, when they did the performances." Dean agreed, "Which was pretty cool, even though we saw it live, too. You know, I drew a picture of The Pansy Pickers' finishing pose."

"Really?" Seamus asked, intrigued.

"Yeah."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure…" The dark skinned Gryffindor glanced at the projection hesitantly.

"Next commercial break."

"Next commercial break." Dean agreed hastily.

-

_The Parkinsons_

"You know, Pansy is on that show right now, and all you're concerned about is that stupid bill for the Ministry." Mrs. Parkinson said testily from across the table at him. "Did you even _hear_ when I asked if you wanted to watch it the past five times?

"This is important, Victoria."

"Really? More important than your daughter?" She snapped, standing up and slamming down her cup of tea.

"Is this even about Pansy anymore?" He countered, laying down the parchment. "Because every bloody time you bring this up, it's always about you! Do you even care about our daughter?"

She recoiled as though she'd been slapped. "Of course I care about my daughter! I can't say the same for _you_-"

"How dare you insult me that way!" He shouted, standing up. "The only reason I'm still in this marriage is because of her."

"How dare you!" His wife screamed, balling her hands into fists. "How dare you insult me-"

"Insult you?!" He bellowed, "You're the one who's fucking someone else! Not me! I remained faithful to you and my daughter! I took care of you! I make money, and you go sneaking off with another man-"

"Maybe if I was satisfied I wouldn't go to someone else!" She shrieked. "Maybe if you paid one _speck_ of attention to me I would still love you-"

"I don't care if you love me! I certainly don't love you, you devil woman! Why don't you go owl your fuck partner, because you're not welcome in _my_ house anymore! I'll have the House Elves pack your bags, I never want to lay eyes on you again." He threw his glass against the wall, where it shattered, and then stormed from the room.

Mrs. Parkinson screamed after him, "Fine! Break our daughter's heart! Ruin her life!"

"_You_ already have, you bitch!"

"You'll hear from my lawyer!"

"We have the same lawyer!" Yelled his furious voice and his footsteps thundered down stairs.

"Not anymore, you bastard!"

She screamed in frustration and threw her own cup against the wall. Tea streamed down the side and onto the expensive, five hundred galleon carpet. She snapped her fingers and her House Elf, Tipsy, appeared before her. "Pack my bags and get the lawyer."

"I'm taking the Dickinson Worford carpet!" She yelled to the silent house and then slammed the door. It felt so good that she opened it and did it again, and again, and again.

-

_Riley Montgommery_

"Riley? What are you doing?"

"Nothing, mum!" Riley called downstairs, eyes not leaving the WCube's projection.

"You've been spending a lot of time upstairs in your room!" His mother's footsteps headed up the stairs. "Are you watching that _show_ again?"

"Er, no." He said quickly, rolling over and pulling out the first bit of reading material he could find. The projection from the orb cut off as he shoved it under his bed.

"Is that The Quibbler? You know we don't approve of that magazine." Genvieve Montgommery said, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

He glanced at it and tossed it to the side. "Right, sorry."

She stayed standing outside his door. "Riley…"

"Yeah…" He said slowly, mimicking her tone.

"Were you watching the show?"

"No…"He said. She didn't move. "OK, yeah…"

"You know we don't want you watching it! It doesn't set a good example of how you should live your life and we do _not_ approve of that Pansy girl-"

"I don't care if you approve of her. She's busy this summer anyway, and in case you haven't noticed, we don't even go to the same school." He said, rolling onto his stomach and glaring at the floor. "In fact, I don't go to _any_ school."

"Do you _like_ her?" She completely ignored the part of his statement that he most wanted her to notice.

"Is that any of your _business_?"

"Riley Jackson Montgommery, stop mocking me and answer my question!" She barked and he rolled his eyes.

"No, I don't like her. We're just friends, trust me."

"Good. Now, dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes. You should be studying." She said sternly, before leaving his room. He counted to sixty, pulled out the orb and resumed watching the show. Even if he didn't like Pansy, it was an interesting show.

His parents seriously needed to chill out.

-

-

_The House of Hell_

A big blur rushed past Hermione and she could only gape as Blaise and Draco were tackled, thrown backwards and slammed into the wall. She stared in complete astonishment as Theodore Nott grabbed the two Slytherins and _hugged_ them, rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"We won?" Draco asked, his voice muffled by his friend's shoulder.

"We won?" She echoed, feeling slightly dazed.

"You won!" Theodore called out happily, releasing his friends and looking around, eyes wild. Hermione was still in shock, especially due to the fact that the new addition to their team looked so _hyper_.

"We won!" They all cried out at the same time and before she could stop herself she let out a small, 'Oh my _God_!'

Their group began to jump up and down excitedly and she was, once again, swept into a hug and pressed up against Draco's warm, lean body. _He's quite nice feeling. _She though dazedly, and looked up into his face. He was gazing at her, almost like they were back at the club, staring across the stage at each other, like he could see into her soul-

"I can't believe it!" Blaise exclaimed, jaw hanging open. "I thought for sure we'd lost! After Pansy-"

"Yes, we'd actually like to mention that, Pansy." Sheila said, turning to the suddenly pale girl. "Incidentally, we specifically said no magic was allowed, and that's why your car had a bit of a…failure."

"What do you mean, no magic?" Ron asked, staring between his team mate and the hostess. "We didn't do magic."

"Someone did." James said, stopping his off-tune humming of Who'll Stop the Rain to looking disapprovingly at the blonde.

"You used magic?" Harry rounded on her, looking shocked.

"Yes! Fine, I used magic!" Pansy finally burst out. "I _knew_ they were going to win!"

"What did you _do_?" The two males asked in unison, expressions of stunned horror donning their faces.

"She told me she wanted to talk to me, convinced me to stay holed up in some bathroom listening to her talk about her problems while you three drove away happily." Hermione said testily and her team grew solemn. A tense silence filled the air.

"What magic did she do?" Ron asked, frowning and crossing his arms.

"A silencing charm." Hermione replied, feeling her annoyance rise just from talking about it. She hated being deceived, and finding out that the girl had betrayed her after they'd become sort-of-friends had been a big blow.

"You used a silencing charm?" The boys watched Pansy, aghast at her behaviour.

"Stop looking at me like that!" She snapped, throwing her hands up in the air. "_I_ actually wanted to win! I was stuck with you dolts, so _obviously_ I was a bit desperate!"

"We're the dolts?" Harry snapped, temper snapping up. "We're not the ones who made us lose!"

"I wanted to bring someone on more than you did! God, you're such an imbecile!" Pansy snarled, balling her hands into fists. "All _you_ wanted was that little whore Weasl-"

"Shut up about my sister!" Ron yelled, face turning red in his fury.

"Like you're any better!" She exclaimed, "Fawning over that stupid girl you text all the time!"

"At least she likes me!" Ron shot back, "Unlike that Riley_ you're_ in love with-"

"I'm not in love with him!" She shouted back, "You're just stupid _Gryffindors_-"

"Are you so stupid you have to resort back to _house_-"

"If we had a choice you wouldn't even be in this gr-"

"I hate yo-"

"This entire idea is so fucked up-"

The Bloody Fuckers watched in shock as their friends' voices rose to an indistinguishable level. Ron and Harry stood side by side, yelling at Pansy, who was squared off ahead of them. Her face was red and she was gesturing madly with her arms, which was accompanied by an abnormal about of hair swishing and foot stomping.

"This is like those muggle reality shows we saw!" James exclaimed excitedly over the noise as Hermione's team watched them fight.

Shaking her head she moved towards the arguing trio. "Stop it! Stop it _right now_!" She put a hand on Ron's shoulder, tugging, and he looked at her in surprise. Her disruption attracted the attention of Harry as well and soon it was just Pansy who was screaming, but she broke off quite quickly when Hermione glared icily at her.

For a moment there was only silence, punctured by James's poor rendition of the song. "_Who'll stop the ra-a-aaaain_." He sang quietly and Blaise visibly cringed.

"Thank you, Hermione." Sheila said, smoothing down her dress's skirt. "Now, if we could carry on?"

Looking somewhat shamefaced Harry and Ron stepped back, shooting glares at Pansy. Blaise was whispering excitedly to Theodore, who still had a slightly manic expression on his face while Draco listened, nodding.

"Congratulations goes out to The Blood Fuckers, who won the Road Trip challenge. Now, in honour of the ending of this journey, we've put together a small video to summarize your experiences! We'll be handing out copies at publicity events and such, and each of you will be given one." Sheila explained while James set up his WCube. "Without further ado, here we are!"

They all turned expectantly to the projection wall, but nothing happened. "Er, James, did you set it up right?" Sheila asked impatiently, looking down at her perfectly manicured nails.

"I think so." He picked up the orb – Hermione had never realized how strange that it was called a W_Cube_ but was, in fact, circular – "Oh! Good golly, I forgot to remove the protective cap from the screen."

"_Idiot_." Sheila muttered, rolling her eyes. After James fiddled with it for a bit they turned back to the wall and it began to roll. First it summarized the trip of The Pansy Pickers, where they seemed to be getting along well, and then showed brief clips of the challenges along the way. The brunette exchanged looks with Draco, who was wearing an expression that described how she felt. How had they gone from that camaraderie to their fighting?

'_However, tensions arose. Ron's constant attention to his cell phone and Harry's temper quickly annoyed Pansy.'_

James's voice spoke ominously and clips were shown of several yelling matches, resulting in Pansy sulking in the back. There was about a minute of clips of Ron using his cell phone and Harry's temper getting the best of him. It moved on to what she'd done to Hermione in an attempt to sabotage her group's chances of winning, at which Harry and Ron glowered. She resisted pointing out that, in essence, they'd wanted her to do it to her own team, because they were, of course, different circumstances. It was quite lengthily, and she saw the tension between the team members rise visibly on screen.

'_How have The Bloody Fuckers fared through this adventure?'_

"'_How could they do this to me?_'" The Hermione on screen was ranting furiously. '"_I hate this show! You put me in a small car, for fourteen days with __Malfoy__ and_ _Zabini_?"'

'"_Granger being here is kind of a disappointment."_' Draco's voice drawled out. '"_I was expecting it, obviously, but she's like a rabid beaver. Always freaking out at us, and wanting to dismember us and use our limbs to build a beaver dam or something_."'

'"_I didn't really care,"'_ Blaise said, shrugging from his casual perch in the Confession Box. '"_Until she started freaking out in here. It doesn't exactly help that we don't get along, so hopefully we'll all remain intact for the remainder of this trip. And by intact, I mostly mean alive."'_

The images on the screen flashed around as it showed their various arguments – from when Draco had been irritated by her tapping foot, to Blaise refusing to turn on the radio, to a minor quarrel between Draco and Blaise about which exit they were supposed to take. In fact, that particular topic went on for quite awhile and she couldn't help but giggle slightly under her breath as the clips just went on and on and _on_.

'_But was it a cover-up for something more?'_

She was actually quite enjoying this. The way it twisted all the events that had happened, such as when Draco had seen she was awake in the mirror and she'd closed her eyes quickly and made it out into a big, dramatic eye lock with violin music and everything. It was absolutely ridiculous, but once you got over the initial injustice, it was quite entertaining. There was Draco, smiling and pulling her to his side in the fast food restaurant, and then them laughing in the car.

The next series was of Blaise's many, er, _conquests_, and it flashed picture after picture of him locked in embraces until Hermione could only look incredulously at the dark male. "How did you even meet that many people?" She asked, eyes flickering back and forth between the screen and the somewhat embarrassed looking black male.

"Er…You know. Here and there." He said offhandedly. "But it's not like I did them _all_. Just quick snogs, mostly."

"'Them_ all.'"_ Draco muttered, rolling his eyes and making Hermione laugh.

Their recap ended on a completely dramatic note, and then Sheila and James turned back to them, beaming. "Now, wasn't that fun?"

"Yeah." Pansy said sarcastically, rolling her eyes nastily and crossing her arms.

"You know, Pansy, surliness is very unattractive, especially when combined with such a negative attitude. Besides, your complexion really can't handle that expression." Sheila advised the blond, who looked highly affronted. "Now, if you do recall, we mentioned there would be a surprise?"

"It's quite a big one," James said, looking casually jovial, if such a combination was possible. "We'll need to speak to each of you individually, except for Theodore, of course…So, before we can continue this little show, I'd like Harry to follow me into this room."

The raven-haired Gryffindor followed his suspiciously, and then James's wife turned to the rest of them. "Intrigued? To speed this up, I'll take Draco in with me. No use waiting for such a long time…"

Draco looked at Hermione and they shared a look of confusion, before he trailed after Sheila into another room. Hermione turned back, her eyes catching Ron's across the room. He strode over, slipping his phone into the pocket of his trousers as he did so.

"Hermione, you_ know_ Harry and I had no idea about what Parkinson did, right?" He looked imploringly at her, his light blue eyes scanning her face in worry. "We wouldn't do that. I know we suggested _you_ do, but obviously we knew you wouldn't."

"Of course, Ron." She said, watching with amusement as his earnest face split into a grin. "I saw it on the show when I found my WCube under a seat. It was just her."

"Good. I wouldn't want you thinking that Harry or I would ever sink as low as a Slytherin." He muttered the word like it made his lips dirty.

"All Slytherins aren't bad, you know Ron." She said, thinking fondly of the past two weeks.

"Yet. Right now they're OK, but just wait until they're older." The Weasley shook his head, speaking sinisterly. "Wait until they turn on you, _then_ you'll know."

"Hi, Ron." Blaise said suddenly, coming to stand beside them. The way he stood suggested that he'd heard his words, and the corner of his lips were turned up.

"Oh, hi." Ron said amicably, glancing at him and returning his voice to normal. "How's it going?"

"Good." The other male winked at Hermione and she giggled, before he turned away from them and sauntered back over to the wall.

"There's something else I should probably tell you." Ron bit his lip, eyes flashing from amiable to anxious, looking worried.

"What is it?" She asked, sensing his concern and resting her hands supportively on his shoulders.

"Well…You know I've been talking with someone lately…right…?"

"Yeah." She prompted, when he didn't seem inclined to continue. "Ron, what's wrong?"

"Er…"

"Granger, they'll take you now." Draco had returned, his brows furrowed and he looked at them for a long moment. Well, he really _glowered_ at them, his eyes moving from Hermione's face, to her hands on Ron's shoulder and then to Ron, where his entire expression narrowed with dislike. "Or am I interrupting something _private_?"

"Don't be silly." She removed her hands from Ron quickly. For some reason she didn't like the idea of her blond team-mate seeing them standing that way. "We'll finish this later, OK?"

He nodded and she turned. Her brown eyes were drawn to the thick brown envelope in Draco's hands as she passed, and she asked him what they'd wanted. It looked much like the envelope they'd gotten with the House Rules and such at the beginning of the show.

"Can't say." He replied and she followed James, dissatisfied with his answer. What could possibly make Shame draw them out one by one and talk to them in private? Had there been a complication in the show?

"Hermione, Hermione, Hermione." James said genially when she took a seat in the chair resting opposite from him. "I'm sure you're very curious about why you're here."

"Yes." She said in a business-like way, crossing her legs. "Obviously."

"This is quite a big opportunity." He leaned in seriously, hands flat on the table in front of him. "We're giving you a choice, right now. If you want to, you can leave The House of Hell."

Her jaw fell open in shock and he nodded, satisfied with her surprise. "Really?"

"Yep. That's right. _Right_ now, we're giving you the chance to walk away." He nodded gravely. "Right up and out the door. Onto the lawn. Into a car. And drive away. Well, actually," he added as an afterthought, "You'd probably want to pick up all your stuff. So you'd have to pack it up. And you might want to say your goodbyes, and all. But in essence, you know, you can walk away right now."

"Why?" She asked, her mind going frantic as she thought of the implications of his words. She could leave. No more ridiculous challenges, no more Slytherin team mates, no more being stuck with people she didn't want to see, no more Draco…

"I don't want to leave." Her traitorous lips burst out before she could think about it. "I'd like to stay. If that's alright."

"You know, we thought you'd be difficult." James said, smiling at her. "I suppose not. Well, I'm going to continue as though you didn't interrupt. The reason we're giving you this option is because of recent reconstruction of the House of Hell program. We've spoken to our sponsors, and have added several things into the show. For starters, we are going to start eliminating House Guests."

She gaped at him, unable to contain the response. _Eliminate_ people? _Why _would they want to do that? She couldn't understand where the man in front of her as going with their conversation, but listened attentively instead of interrupting him like she wanted to.

"Well, actually, the viewers are going to eliminate House Guests. We're just going to watch them do it." He seemed to think that was a rather clever, witty remark and was offended when Hermione didn't respond with hysterical laughter. "_Anyways_, that's why we need your consent to remain on the show. Most of you are adults in the Wizarding world, so it isn't up to your parents. Technically, all this time you really _could _have left…"

Hermione didn't have the energy to feel disgruntled.

"Your team has now been completed, we don't feel it's necessary to add on any more people. The House is ready, and we've got loads of challenges and exciting things for you to do. The whole mid-show recuperation has done wonders, really. So we have a contract for you to read over." He pulled out a piece of parchment with flourish and the bushy-haired female immediately began to scour it.

After her third time reading it over, she decided it was safe. There was nothing that would keep her tied to the House afterwards – the time period was specified for a date in August, or for when she left the House and was no longer a Guest – and there was nothing that obligated her to do anything. In fact, it was fairly open and even stated that if they decided to negotiate anything on the contract – it was an informal contract, which meant it was quite flexible - they could do so with either Sheila or James, and should they feel the need they could contact the owner of the network.

After asking James a few questions she signed it, handing it over. "Here you are."

"Thank you, dear." He said, taking it from her and setting it on the table beside him, where another similar looking parchment lay.

"Did Malfoy choose to stay, also?" She asked eagerly, suddenly remembering him when James handed her a thick envelope like the one the blond had had under his arm.

"Yes, yes he did. These are basically the rules, which you already read in the contract, and your keys and such." The man smiled at her and she grinned, suddenly feeling excited. It was a new era of The House of Hell! "We ask that you don't reveal your decision to anyone in that room who hasn't been in to see us, or tell them what this is about. They'll learn in due time, anyway, and its important that we inform them of this alone."

"Oh. OK." She couldn't find anything wrong with that and stood up. "So I can leave?"

"Of course."

She moved towards the door, but turned around while her hand rested on the doorknob. "How will I know who decides to stay?"

"If they come back into that room, then they've agreed to stay. Draco has agreed, as has Theodore. Oh," he looked down as another contract joined hers and Draco's. "It looks like Harry has as well. Excellent."

She felt a glow of happiness and slipped through the door, joining her group on the other side. Blaise walked through after being called and she beamed at Draco. He looked questioningly at her, eyes darting to the door and she nodded, mouthing, 'I'm staying.' He grinned shortly, before catching Theodore's glance and becoming nonchalant.

It didn't surprise her that they all decided to stay, even when Pansy stormed back into the room and returned to the corner she'd been haunting. Of course, they'd all complained about the show earlier on, but the road trip had changed things for the better. She already felt like the show was already more fun and was excited to start exploring their new house.

"We're all staying?" Ron asked loudly, eyeing their group and letting his eyes linger significantly on Draco. "Hmph."

"God, this'll be a riot." Theodore said, practically bouncing on his heels. Hermione looked at him speculatively, wondering what kind of person he was. He seemed so enthusiastic, completely unlike the impression she'd always gotten from his quiet, withdrawn personality at Hogwarts and the bored looking person she'd brought onstage. "I can't believe you brought me on."

"Who_ else_ would we bring?" Blaise rolled his eyes at Theodore's apparent stupidity.

Sheila was watching them with interest as her husband placed the contracts into a folder and tucked it under his arm. "One question," Hermione said suddenly, looking inquisitive. "Why? What's the point of eliminating us off, one by one? Why would you want there to only be one more person?"

"Oh," Sheila laughed softly with two fingers over her lips. "It's not us who wants there to be one person."

"Your supervisor thinks a show of one person is interesting?" Harry asked doubtfully, shaking his head with dismay.

"No, I mean its you. _You'll_ want to be the last person on the show." James seemed to be trying to make them realize what he was saying without actually saying anything important. It was quite confusing. "We have…a reward."

Noticing their lack of comprehension, Sheila finally leaned forward, her glossy hair falling around her head in a shower of shiny brilliance. Her words made Hermione's brain momentarily short-circuit.

"Oh, I think the one million galleon prize at the end is incentive enough."

-

**Author's Note: Surprised? I know I said this was just an interlude, but...He-he. Then that happened. I think you understand my amusement with the polls now. Why Theodore Nott? I was pondering this for quite awhile, wondering why people wanted him to come on the show…**

**Which leads to my next thing. I have a few requests for you! The first is, I'm wondering who you voted for, if you voted. So if you could tell me who you voted for in your review and give me a quick explanation of why, I'd be forever grateful! **

**The second is, is there a question about this story you'd like me to ask in a poll on my profile? If you have anything you'd like to know, such as who most people's favourite characters are, or whatever, it would be cool if you could let me know in a review or PM, because I can't think of anything to put in a poll right now. :)**

**I'd also really like to thank all of you guys for your support. Reviews never fail to brighten my day and my make me smile, and it's really great to hear from you readers. So thank you! :)**

**Review review review!**


	22. Ride With Me

**Author's Note: The song lyrics that are below mostly go with the end of the chapter. And not so much the first paragraph, but it seemed stupid to just put the chorus in, since it's basically just 'ride with me.'**

**Special thanks to my brilliant beta Nikki, without whom I would be nowhere.**

**Disclaimer: After I finish this story, I plan on being very dramatic and announcing that I am, in fact, J.K Rowling! I'm not at all satisfied with my life, success, family or the seven books I've written over the course of, I dunno, half my life? So I turned to fanfiction to ease my sorrow.**

**Haha. Not.**

**-**

_That's the start, the middle, and the end  
Aren't you glad the universe pretends  
If I don't get this message home  
Once again I'm gonna hate alone  
_

_Ride with me_

_Ride with me, oh._

_Ride with me,_

_Ride with me._

_~~Ride, The Vines_

-

"So this is it?" Draco was looking down a small hallway that had four doors with two on either side. Incidentally, this was the hallway containing their bedrooms. Each door had one of their names tacked on in some sort of metal that sparkled and gave off varied shades of soft blue, even in the bright light that shone from the ceiling.

"I suppose." Hermione replied, standing so close to him their shoulders touched. "This one is mine." She walked over to the first door on the left, eyeing the 'Hermione' with interest as she scoured her knowledge for what could make them glow, but came up short.

"This one's mine!" Theodore said excitedly, dashing to the end of the hall and knocking on the door beside hers, as though someone would open it. She stared at him for a second in confusion, and then decided it would be better to ignore the apparent high he was on. Draco had the room right across from her, and Blaise had the one beside his. The idea of Draco's room being directly across from her was quite interesting, but she shook off the impending shiver that that brought on. They definitely needed to turn off the air conditioning.

Each room, like the one they'd had in the other house, had a card-key activated lock. However, unlike the other house, each person on her team was given a card key that would open her door unless she programmed it to reject them. Inside, she was fascinated to note, was not her old room.

Instead, a large canopy bed with nearly translucent pink hangings took the focus of the room. It looked so soft and she wanted to run over and dive onto it. The walls were washed a soft pink to match the bed and the floors were light oak wood. A matching bookshelf and desk rested beside a closet and from where she stood it seemed to be lined with shelves and hangers - much neater than her own was.

The rays of light from the sunset bathed the floor in puddles from a large window that gave her a beautiful view of the garden she'd only been able to glimpse on the way in, full of blooming colours and lush, green grass. Spirals of orange sunlight shone off the water of a large pool in coils and she shuddered, turning away. On the wall was a framed picture of her, Blaise and Draco. She stared at it, oddly fixated with Draco's arm around her waist – this had been after their performance, when Blaise had pulled them into a hug – and was shocked when it faded and changed.

_It's a slideshow. _She noted and waited, grinning by the time it changed again to one of Draco and Blaise. _That's really cool._ The bag she'd packed and taken on the road trip rested beside a dresser with a large ornate mirror perched on top. Upon inspection, she was slightly disappointed to find that all her clothes and shoes were either folded in the dresser, hanging in the closet or on shelves.

A large flat-screen television was embedded in the wall across from a small, creamy leather loveseat. There was a small table beside that with empty picture frames, and a few frames were also hanging on the wall. Above the desk and circling that corner of the room was a single glass shelf at slightly higher than eye-level.

All in all, it was very pretty and she marveled at the neatness and beauty. _So this is where I'll be living for the next little while. Or, if I'm eliminated, for a bit._

Sheila and James had listened to all their questions, and had given them any information they wanted. Unlike most muggle television shows, they didn't want to eliminate all the people on it very fast. The eliminations would start taking place two and a half weeks before the show would come to a close, and three people would be eliminated each week until one remained. That still gave them three and a half weeks in the house until the first person would be eliminated.

She was very relieved about that. As strange as it was that they'd started out hating the House of Hell, the idea of leaving made her feel very sad. It was also better to eliminate them so close together, so that at least they wouldn't have to miss each other for long. She supposed that, as it would be the end of the summer by then, they'd see each other at Hogwarts, however the circumstances would be completely different and she had no doubt that the relationships she had with her teammates would probably change when she got back to school, despite how she wished they wouldn't.

Her instincts told her to climb into bed and just sleep, but instead she pulled out the calendar from her envelope and hung it on the wall. It marked all the days they had challenges coming up and the days of eliminations, starting on August 19th. After that she just moved on autopilot, unpacking all her clothes and placing everything from her bag in the places that they seemed to fit in – her laptop, MCube, camera and iPod were placed in various positions on her desk and in the drawers.

As she moved to place her cell phone on the table beside her bed, she noticed that it was still on. _10:47. _The time flashed at her and she opened it, her eye catching _you have one unopened message. _Hoping it wasn't Jacob, she directed herself through to her text message inbox and opened it.

_How's the new room?_

It was from Draco, she realized with a smile. She'd given him her phone number sometime during the road trip while Blaise tried desperately to teach him how to use his cell phone, and he'd entered his on her phone. Apparently he'd gotten the hang of texting.

_Really nice. Yours?_

Still grinning she put it on ring, flipped it shut and searched through her drawers until she found a pair of pajamas. Her phone rang, startling her with the chorus from Sexy Back. That made her laugh out loud, because of course he would choose that for his ring, and she walked over, flipping it open and viewing the message.

_Satisfactory. _She could imagine the smug expression on his smirking face and was startled when another message was sent to her. _What are you doing?_

_Getting ready to go in search of a bathroom. _She replied honestly, _I really want to get to bed._

_Already? _

_Yes 'already.' _She was quite startled by her ability to reply so fast, but then realized that having a full keyboard was slightly helpful, as opposed to one number with three different letters. _What are you doing?_

_Going in search of a bathroom._

_Oh. _She answered, a slow grin expanding on her face as she shouldered her bag of shower essentials and the things she needed to get ready for bed. _Maybe I'll see you._

_Maybe you will._

When she opened the door, Draco did the exact same thing across the hall and she watched him, amused. "Fancy meeting you here." He spoke casually, leaning against his doorframe in an elegant way as he surveyed her.

"I think you're a stalker." She said bluntly, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

He snorted. "I'm not a stalker. I just happened to open the door at the same time as you with the same intent. Do you want an escort?"

"No." Hermione answered, closing her door carefully and starting to walk down the hallway.

"Really? Most girls would die for a chance like this." Draco said cockily, closing his door and falling into step beside her.

"Anyone who wants to be escorted by _you_ clearly has brain damage." She answered as they entered the kitchen. It had hardwood floors, limestone counters and wooden cabinets. A small island with a limestone surface stood somewhat isolated from the countertops and she ran one hand over it as she passed, retracting it when it reached the dip for the sink.

"No, they've just succumbed to my charm and handsome qualities."

"Are you sure it's not your modesty?" She asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "You're so delusional."

"I'm pretty sure you're the delusional one." He watched as she passed through the arch leading into their living room. "Have you noticed you're basically the only one who doesn't find me stunningly attractive?"

"Our ideas of 'basically' must be vastly different."

"Your cleverness astonishes me." He replied, chuckling a bit under his breath.

"I get that a lot." She said offhandedly, trying to imitate his cocky and confidant tone.

He let out a burst of laughter that pleased her for some reason and they came to a halt in front of a door. He looked at her significantly, so she opened it and discovered that it was, indeed, a bathroom. She eyed it with slight awe. Beautiful bathrooms made her want her wish she could paint, so she could paint them. There was just something about them that ignited such a strange response.

The shower alone was massive and she was pretty sure that they could fit two of each member of both teams in there. Not that she wanted to find out if they could, of course. A white sink was resting underneath a pretty mirror with a silver frame and the floor was white tile and everything was gleaming – the tiles, the mirror, the toilet and sink, the glass shower walls and even the _walls_.

"Wow." She said in awe, while Draco looked around with minimal interest and shrugged.

"It's satisfactory. Is there more than one, though? There are four of us living over here." He walked to the next door and opened it. She joined him at the room's entrance and was glad to see that they did, at least, have two bathrooms.

"Has _anything_ met your standards?" She asked, somewhat amused and a bit annoyed. Everything she saw made her want to sigh at how nice it was, while he just turned up his nose.

"Yeah, I just said it was satisfactory." The blond said, rolling his eyes as though she had asked something ridiculous. "Are you going to use this one, then?"

"Are you?" She asked back as they stood a bit awkwardly in the hallway.

"No, you can. I'll just use this one." He replied, turning away from her and walking down the hallway. "Have fun."

Hermione stared after him, slightly mystified. Before the Road Trip Challenge, he would have fought with her over that bathroom _just_ because she wanted to use it. And yet, they had just had a moderately pleasant conversation and they'd made a decision without an argument. Draco Malfoy was a strange person, she concluded.

Her shower was like heaven. For about three minutes she stood under the hot spray as water ran down her body, and then she began to wash her hair, delighting in the fact that she could take as long as she wanted, and would just be going to bed when she left, instead of climbing in a car. It was a miracle that her sleeping patterns hadn't been completely destroyed, simply from all the driving at odd hours.

And then she thought about Draco, showering in the room right beside her and the way his hair was undoubtedly plastered down on his head and water was probably running down his face and on his eyelashes, framing the stormy grey eyes they enclosed. She could imagine his face so clearly that she had to open her eyes to shake off the image and then swore, because shampoo ran down from her hair and into her eyes, which hurt a lot.

After that, showering wasn't much fun because her eyes were really hurting and it was painful to open them, so she quickly washed the rest of herself and then stumbled from the shower. With her eyes half closed she got dressed and splashed cold water into her eyes while pulling them open until she could see out of them without squinting instinctively, though they were still very red.

To say that she was exhausted would have been an immense understatement. Not only did all her muscles and bones ache from sleeping and sitting in various uncomfortably positions in a car, but now her _eyes_ hurt, too, because she was stupid enough to open them while shampooing.

Needless to say, it hadn't been her best day, and she was already dreaming before she laid down.

-

-

"Morning." Blaise chirped from his position at their kitchen table, looking his usual attractive self and not at all tired, weary, or even annoyed because he was tired or weary. She didn't reply, only looked at him long enough to see steam rising from the cup of coffee in front in him before she dragged herself to the coffee maker and poured herself some. "You're in a good mood."

"Astute observation." She replied in a gravelly voice, looking around their thankfully well-stocked kitchen for some bread. She found some and with a small spurt of happiness popped it into the toaster. While she waited she rubbed her eyes and asked, "Where's Malfoy?"

"Right here." Draco strode in looking unfairly good, for someone who'd spent the past two weeks in a car. Her happiness from the bread was extremely short-lived. He looked at her and blanched, "What happened to you?"

"Morning." Blaise said from the table, but was ignored.

"_I_ spent the past two weeks in a small enclosed space, unlike you, apparently." She said, buttering the toast as they popped up and then slathering the pieces with jam. They weren't completely done, however, so they sank down quite a bit and were almost flat by the time she'd finished. "You seem just peachy. How nice for you and your perfect hair."

Apparently, lack of sleep and hurting eyes made her slightly delirious. "I also got shampoo in my eyes last night."

"Oh, I understand." He smirked cockily at her, "Granger, if you're that affected by my stunningly good looks, you could have told me. I would have tried to ease your pain."

"Being in your presence causes me pain. Care to ease _that_?" She asked snottily, taking a vicious bite into her toast. With a satisfied noise she took a drink of coffee.

Draco's eyebrows went up. "You really need to relax."

"You really need to lose your arrogance." She retorted, somehow smiling despite her mood, and she looked up as Theodore walked into the kitchen.

"Morning." Blaise said for the third time and was, once again, ignored.

"I wonder if we'll be doing a challenge today." Theodore said, more to himself than apparently anyone else. He walked over, picked up _her_ coffee mug, took it, sat down at the table, took the top few sheets of Blaise's newspaper and began to read.

"That's mine!" She protested, but he didn't respond and she frowned in consternation, still half asleep. Draco, for reasons unknown to her, handed her his coffee mug, as though it was rightfully hers. It seemed that Blaise wanted to join in on the 'fun' and gave Draco his, and then sighed regretfully when he realized no one was going to give him one.

He then decided to take the one Theodore had taken from Hermione, but the dark-haired Slytherin glared at him. "That's mine!"

"No, it was _mine_ first." She said, taking another bite of toast.

"You have one." Theodore pointed to the mug in front of her.

"It's Malfoy's."

"Did you steal it? Hypocrite." He rolled his eyes, picked up the book and mug and walked out of the kitchen.

She stared after him, "Is he always like that?"

"Sometimes." Draco responded, sitting down beside her. "Nice pajamas."

With surprise she looked down at her plaid cotton pants and t-shirt, which had a picture of a girl with big blond hair and a boy with big brown hair and a heart between them. She hadn't really thought about changing into real clothes when she'd woken.

"Nice pants." She shot back, standing up to go get changed. While he was busy trying to figure out what was wrong with his pants she left, while Blaise watched. With a smirk of amusement he lifted up the remnants of his paper.

"Is there something wrong with my pants?" Draco asked him, looking concerned.

"Idiot." His friend muttered under his breath.

-

-

"An interview?" Draco repeated, frowning. "Why?"

They'd been gathered outside in the garden by the Sheila and James and they were sitting on the pretty little benches that adorned the small area they were in. She was sitting beside Harry and Ron, who both looked disappointed at what they'd just heard.

"The public wants to hear you." Sheila said, sitting with her legs crossed elegantly on her chair. James's hand rested on top of hers, on her knee, and he nodded empathically. "You clearly don't know the impact this show has had on people. We have viewers from North America, Kuwait, Germany, Greece! _Need_ I go on? The responses we've been getting are amazing, and we think the viewers deserve some of their questions answered. It's a lot bigger than we ever imagined."

Blaise snickered under his breath, muttering something that sounded like, "I've heard _that_ one before," and Hermione rolled her eyes. It wasn't difficult to figure out where his perverted train of thought was. "However, we _have _managed to turn this into a challenge, of sorts." James said, grinning as they perked up in interest. "This challenge will involve motorcycles."

"Motorcycles?" Blaise asked brightly, "How?"

"We're getting to that." James said, tsk-ing his tongue in a slightly annoying fashion. He flicked his wand and a board appeared behind them, to which he pressed the end of his wand. "Now, you see this 'x'?"

They nodded. "This 'x' represents one member of your team. They will start on one side of a long field. The rest of your team is on the other side. You must transport all members of your team from one side to the other. Only two people can be on the motorcycle at one time, and those who aren't on it cannot pass the white line."

He then took the marker and slashed a line at each end of the field. "The person driving can only drive across the length of the field twice." To make sure they understood, he illustrated a person on a motorcycle driving to one side of the field and back to the other. "Do you understand? If you break these rules, you are disqualified."

They nodded again, and Sheila smiled happily. "Now, as soon as the driver reaches the side where the passengers all remain, they must use up one minute of answering the interview questions. This will only be the start of the interview; we'll continue it later, of course. The person who starts on the motorcycle will begin by answering a question. Do you all understand?"

"Yes." She said hesitantly, "But we have one more person than the other team."

"We have a substitute who we'll be bringing." James said, grinning. "Just for this one challenge, however."

"What if they _want_ us to lose?" Pansy asked, narrowing her eyebrows. The others glanced at her briefly and then looked back at James.

"They don't," was all Sheila said, to the blonde girl's frustration. "Now, the winner of this will be determined by who answers the most eloquently, how well the team works together and, of course, who finishes first. Any more questions?"

No one spoke up, so the two grinned. "Now, the three males in the Bloody Fuckers all know how to drive motorcycles, yes?"

They all nodded, exchanging grins. "Excellent. Well, if we could have the Pansy Pickers and Hermione follow us? We're going to give you a crash course in motorcycle driving."

The boys all gave her supportive smirks – if that was possible – and she followed the others out of the room. Motorcycles really weren't her thing.

-

-

"How'd it go?" Blaise asked as she came in one and a half hours later.

"Awful." She groaned, rubbing her arm where moments ago it had been scraped. Of course, thanks to magic, it was now completely healed. "I can't drive them. At all."

"That works out." Draco said quickly, drawing her attention to the paper he had laid out in front of him. She walked over behind him and leaned over his shoulder, her hair skimming the top of it. They'd come up with a diagram that illustrated how they would proceed. "We all can."

It would begin with Blaise on the opposite side of the field. He would ride over to the other three, pick up Theodore, and drive back. Blaise would then stay behind as Theodore rode back, picked up Draco, and brought him back. Theodore would get off and Draco would return to pick up Hermione. They would then all be one side.

"It took you that long to come up with this diagram?" She asked, looking at the scribbles with amusement.

"No." Theodore said, a sour expression on his face. "We haven't been doing it the whole time. We're not_ that_ stupid."

She looked at him in slight surprise. "I didn't say you were."

"Yeah, OK. Whatever." He glared at her, twisting his lips. "When do we do this?"

"Half an hour." She answered cautiously, wondering why he was so hostile all of a sudden. "So you all can drive motorcycles?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" She asked, rubbing another bruise on the side of her knee. "Did you take…lessons, or something?"

"We bought motorcycles one summer and got someone to teach us how." Blaise replied, grinning. "We're very rebellious."

"Mhm. I hope _you_ don't have any piercing hidden under your clothes." She nodded at Draco, actually quite curious. It seemed that they'd gotten motorcycles, and then Blaise and Theodore had gotten those nipple piercing. She doubted Draco had one, too, but she couldn't resist asking.

He smirked cockily at her. "Would you like to check?"

"No." She snorted, flushing, and shaking her head. "I think I'd rather not."

"I know you want m-" Draco was interrupted by his phone ringing, to which he looked in confusion. "I thought you said half and hour."

"That's what they said." She replied while their whole team watched, fixated. He lifted his phone, checked the collar ID and immediately went a bit pale, his face resigned. "Who is it?"

"Hi," he answered it without acknowledging her comment.

"Who is it?" Theodore prodded, his jaw set in a line.

Without looking at them, the blonde stood up and walked to the corner of the room, talking in a hushed voice so they couldn't hear. She could make out snippets of conversation if she strained, which didn't inform her of anything, really.

"-meet there tomorrow…no I…stop…Yes. Yes. Yes, of course…No, I don't…do you really…I'll refuse to…Fine." He snapped the phone shut with a resigned sigh and the other three quickly tried to make it look like they hadn't been listening. Or at least, she did. The other two were already talking, so they hadn't been listening anyway.

"So then I asked if they wanted me to fail everything, and they said it doesn't matter, I've already failed life-" Theodore was explaining and she laughed, trying to cover up her bad eavesdropping.

"That's funny." She said, trailing off as both Theodore – with an expression of sardonic distaste – and Blaise – who merely looked amused – turned to stare at her. "That was…erm…a good one."

"Who was it?" Blaise asked, leaning back and watching his friend with a contemplative expression.

"Helga." He replied, that one word explaining the sudden change in his mood. She was unable to prevent a grimace from crossing her features, and she attempted to hide it behind her hand. Just the mention of that name made her feel sick. "To verify the appointments. We have two on Friday with different doctors."

"It's still very early." She said, after no one else responded. "There's really no way she couldn't have known the day after. No way."

"It would be so weird if there was a little Malfoy running around." Theodore said, ignorant of the look Blaise was sending him that clearly stated shut-up-you-fool. "It would probably be really smart. And blond. And sarcastic."

"There won't be_ any _little Malfoys running around." Hermione said sharply, unaware that she'd spoken until after they all looked at her.

"Malfoy_s_? God, imagine if she had twins." Theodore cackled, and then looked mystified as Draco got to his feet and hurried out the door into the living room without saying anything. "What's his problem?"

"You idiot." Blaise snapped under his breathe, "She's not pregnant! Stop scaring Draco."

"He got himself into it." Replied the Slytherin, and then snickered. "Ha-ha. He got himself _in_to it."

"You're so insensitive." Grumbled the handsome male beside him, shooting him a dirty look.

"I'm not insensitive. I'm a realist. Stop being such a prat. It's a free country." Theodore retorted defensively, turning to square off his friend.

"_I'm_ the prat?" Hermione sighed, though she was ignored, as it became apparent that this would turn into an argument. "You're the one who was going on and on about how our friend might have children at 17 year-"

Instead of lingering, she stood up and joined Draco in the living room. He looked slightly ill and was clutching his hands together, gaze fixed firmly on the ground. "You shouldn't listen to him." She said quietly, "I doubt he knows very much about it."

"He knows more about it than you'd think." He muttered in response. He looked up and hurried on, her stricken expression making him regret those words. "He doesn't have one, or anything, but…He's just knowledgeable about things. Overall."

"You'll be fine." Instinctively she laid a hand on his shoulder, which tensed and gradually relaxed. "Try not to worry about it, if possible, until Friday."

He snorted in response and shrugged off her hand. "Let's go. We should be ready for the challenge, and everything."

He stood up to leave and she watched him, noticing that colour had returned to his face.

-

-

"Hurry up, Theodore!" Blaise bellowed, his expression sour. Apparently their squabble had extended past the kitchen's closed door. "Quit playing with your fucking hair!"

"I wasn't." Snarled his friend, stalking down the hallway. "I was trying to get an effing moment away from your idiotically-annoying and intelligence-degrading presence!"

"You just made up a lot of non-words. Your parents must be so proud." Blaise replied mockingly, shooting his friend death glares.

"Whatever, Blaise. Or should I call you He-Who-Fucks-All?"

"I don't fuck all." Snapped the dark male, his jaw locked in a tense line.

"OK, sure you don't." Theodore said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "It's a miracle you don't have a billion diseases yet."

"Why? Because I'm gay?" Blaise snarled, "And I bet you think if you're gay, everything is one big pool of disease, right?"

"Did I say that?" Hermione shifted awkwardly to the side while Theodore continued aggressively, "No, no I didn't. God, why are you so defensive all the time? It's not like you can change it."

"I don't _want_ to change it. I mean I do but I – I don't _want_ to be - I've got no choice. Just shut up." He seemed to want to continue, but instead opted to scowl ferociously and look offended.

"Why don't yo-"

"Quit it, all right?" Draco finally growled, startling them both. "We have to work as a team, alright? We have more pressing issues than your tempers."

"You mean _you _do." Theodore muttered, but their group fell silent and they left the house that way.

Their car was parked right outside the door with a man she recognized from their first day in the House behind the wheel, so they hopped in the back. She and Draco ended up sitting diagonal from each other – she was in the front and he sat behind her to the right - and exchanged looks of annoyance and exasperation as their two team members bickered the whole drive.

When they emerged from their vehicle, the Pansy Pickers were already there. She smiled at Harry and Ron, who grinned back at her. Clearly their team was getting along about as well as hers was, at the moment. Pansy stood, skulking with her arms across her chest in an eerily similar way to Theodore.

They were facing an extremely long, grassy field that was not in any way level. To be honest, it looked like a golf course, except with many more ridges, as opposed to smooth hills. On the other side of the plain she could see a small group of figures standing beside a misshapen one lower to the ground and assumed that they were the motorcycles.

"I guess we have to walk over." Draco said thoughtfully and collectively they began to stride across the field. She fell into step slightly behind Draco, while Blaise and Theodore continued to fight behind them.

"Are they usually like this?" She asked, tired, and looked over her shoulder.

"Sort of." He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "They're sort of complex. Their personalities, I mean. So shoving them together makes them react in weird ways."

"Like chemistry." She couldn't resist a laugh, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Where do you fit in it, then?"

"I'm too complex for words." Draco replied with a cocky smirk, back to his old self instantly. "I'm the stunningly attractive one that makes everyone else put up with them."

"Hm." She pursed her lips together and raised her eyebrows, deciding that it would be better not to answer that. They walked across the field and, as they drew nearer, saw Sheila and James standing with two females holding microphones. They were each equipped with a tri-pod and a camera resting on top. To her surprise, Luna Lovegood also stood beside her.

"Luna?" Ron asked in shock and she smiled dreamily, her blond hair glowing as the sun reflected off of it, creating an angelic way about her.

"Hello, Ron."

"Luna is your substitute teammate." Explained James, to Pansy's apparent horror. "She was very nice when we approached her about it."

They all turned, expecting Luna to say something in response, but she was crouched down was speaking softly to what appeared to be a dandelion, holding out her finger as though there was something on it. After a pause, during which they concluded that she wasn't going to say anything, they turned back to James.

He outlined the rules again, very briefly, and introduced the two other women as their interviewers. Her stomach was doing small jumps, which she tried to ignore, and then they were walking back to where they'd been before and leaving Blaise behind them.

"Nervous?" Theodore asked Draco, who shrugged and shook his head. He was going to reply, however a large horn ripped through the clearing and then they were starting. Blaise was talking to one of the women, the interviewers, as was Luna. Or so she assumed, all they could really make out from the distance were dark blobs. Hermione was vaguely entertained by the idea of Luna driving a motorcycle, until the minute of interviewing was actually up and she was on one, speeding over ground.

Blaise got there first. Theodore had been ready and he dashed forward, jumping on the back of the bike almost before it stopped and they tore off again, crossing the long distance in a flurry of color. The two males both jumped off and, while Theodore ran for the interview, Blaise darted off to the side and took a seat on the ground.

The next minute passed quickly and slowly at the same time. Her heart was beating with excitement and she couldn't think of anything to say to Draco, who was watching the dark specks of their friends in the distance with a fixated expression. Harry, who had been picked up by Luna, departed from the other side more quickly than their team did, as Luna had somehow gained speed and passed Blaise.

"Good luck." She said quickly as Draco hurried forward and he turned, giving her a somewhat surprised look, before clambering onto the bike and flying off. She turned to the right to see Ron getting on the other and Pansy watching distastefully. She stared as the sun reflected ever-so-slightly on his hair and then they were gone.

Hermione was quite nervous, now. She was the last one to go and, while she didn't actually have to drive the motorcycle, she doubted she would enjoy being the passenger. It seemed to take a long time for Draco to come back, and then suddenly he was within her sight and he'd stopped and was beckoning for her to climb on.

_Oh no oh no oh no. _She repeated over and over as, almost sluggishly, yet with speed, if that was possible, she hurried over and somehow swung her leg over one side. Before she could even get a good grip, he'd kicked off and she let out a small yelp, grabbing him quickly around the waist. Her hair was streaming behind her and, holding on for dear life, she locked her arms around Draco.

_Oh no oh no oh - hmm. He's warm. _Her inner anxiety was somewhat quenched by the warmth radiating off his body, which kept her from being hit with most of the wind. _Quite warm, really. And nice. _

It was strange that, while everyone else was driving it seemed to take so long and yet, just as she was getting sort of comfortable, the ride was over. Draco tried to get off and nearly fell, mostly because she hadn't let go of him. "Come on, Granger!"

She reluctantly unclamped her arms – they'd been sort of comfortable – and somehow managed to stumble over to the woman by the camera.

"Hello, Hermione." She smiled genially, a stopwatch starting automatically around her neck with her first word. "How are you?"

"Pretty good." She said breathlessly, trying not to talk too fast. It wouldn't change the amount of time it would take the minute to go by, but it would change how well the interview went. "And yourself?"

"I'm great, thanks. So, I've got a small game to play, first. We're doing word association, is that alright? I'll say someone's name and you have to say the first word that comes to mind."

"Certainly." She smiled, trying not to wring her hands.

"Excellent! Harry."

"Gryffindor." She said quickly, her heart pounding extremely fast. Her teammates were all staring at her from the circle they all stood in, just outside hearing range. It was just her and Pansy, now.

"Pansy."

"Backstabber." Again, she was frantically trying to calm herself down and keep her heart from exploding, just from the force of the blood pumping through her veins.

"Theodore."

"Hyper."

"Doing great. Blaise."

"Musical." Her brain was whirring.

"Ron."

"Loyal."

"Luna."

"Loony." _Oh dear. _She barely had time to think, _I'm going to regret saying that one._

"Draco."

"Funny." Before she had could even concentrate on what she'd said, her eyes zeroed in on the stop watch. It hit 60 seconds and, without thinking, said, "Thanks for your time," and turned and ran.

Within seconds she'd dashed over the thick line encircling her team and Theodore cheered loudly, giving her a forceful high five (he lifted up her hand and slapped it heavily with his own). "Nice!"

She looked at him warily for a moment and then shook her head. Blaise grinned at her and hugged her, which she suspected was more to pull her away from Theodore than anything else. She really didn't fancy being used as some sort of prop for them to slight each other with and slipped away, falling into step beside Draco as they walked back to Sheila and James. That seemed to happen a lot, but when Blaise and Theodore always ended up walking beside each other and fighting – or at least, they had for the past two days – she didn't exactly have options.

"That was fun." He said dryly and she let out a small, weak laugh, remembering her response to his name. _Funny. _It probably wasn't normal to think that the person you weren't really supposed to like all that much was funny. Her mind was in a strange sort of turmoil. She'd sort of acknowledged that she liked Draco a bit…He was OK. They could possibly end up as friends. But when she looked back, she realized that the time they'd spent together – three weeks – was hardly enough time to put the past six years behind you.

They were led to a small area that she hadn't noticed before – mostly because it was around a small bend in a slightly tall hill – that had five chairs set up, four of them across from one.

"So my name is Jennifer," the woman who had interviewed them said, smiling as The Pansy Pickers were led away from them. "I'll be finishing up with you in a group interview. Please, take a seat."

Hermione sat down in the second chair inwards on the right. Theodore sat beside her and, when Blaise saw that, he went to the chair on the opposite end of the line. Draco sat next to her and, instead of looking at her, gazed intently at Jennifer. It seemed almost on purpose, which she didn't really understand.

"Alright! The questions I'm going to ask you were sent in from viewers all around the world. The first one I've got is from James in Carolina. He'd like to know how it feels to be on the show now, as opposed to how you felt when you first came on. Blaise, we'll start with you."

"I didn't want to be on the show, obviously." He placed his chin in his hand, leaning forward. "I was quite mad. But now I suppose I'm sort of glad for the chance to get to know the other people, so I'm ready to enjoy the time here. It's given me loads of opportunities."

"How sweet." Theodore muttered mockingly, rolling his eyes.

"I'm really beginning to regret bringing you on, now." Draco murmured under his breath and, when Jennifer looked pointedly at him, continued, "Er…I agree. I don't like the Gryffindors now, of course, but it's bearable. Having them here, I mean. Probably because I have such limited contact with Weasley and Potter."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, mirroring Theodore, and answered. "I agree with Blaise. Initially I was annoyed as well, but now I've come to appreciate the opportunity."

"Very good." Their interviewer looked down at the cards she held, "Next we have Deliah from London. How have your feelings on your teammates changed?"

There was a short pause and then Theodore spoke up, gazing sardonically down the row at them. "Blaise, I find, is more of an arsehole than he's ever been before. It's quite a nice change, I'll tell you. This show clearly brings out the best in him and his promiscuous ways." The object of Theodore's criticism opened his mouth to respond, but the dark haired Slytherin continued, sarcasm and boredom dripping like poison with his words. "Draco, it seems, has become yet more anal about his control issues, and Granger…Well, I can't say a lot about her, except that being removed from all her normal situations has brought out things I never knew were there before."

Blaise glared at him furiously, his jaw clenched shut, and Hermione hurried to answer the question before they started arguing. "Erm…I didn't really know any of them before…Blaise is more interesting that I suspected. We have a higher level of understanding between us, and we've talked more. Malfoy…Well, I think the fact that we can sit beside each other right now is a clear indication of how well we get along. He's not…as bad as I originally thought." She felt a bit like she was revealing some personal information and hurried on. "And Theodore…Is slightly more…eccentric that I thought. In a good way." She added hastily, upon seeing his expression.

"Theodore just annoys me more, now." Draco scowled at his friend, "And Blaise and I, I suppose, are now bonded by the horror a road trip. And as for Granger…Well, she's not so bad, anymore."

His short response made her smile, which she tried very hard to conceal. Blaise was looking very smug for someone who had been insulted moments before and rattled of a somewhat cheery response that hardly made sense to Hermione, and then Jennifer was speaking again.

The interview went on for quite a long time. There were a lot of high strung, tense arguments that went back and forth between Theodore and Blaise, which she and Draco tried to control when they got too out of hand. When he wasn't arguing with Theodore, Blaise was making suggestive comments or going out of his way to say purposefully awkward statements and contorting the meaning of each question. Draco answered, for the most part, casually and didn't spend a lot of time on any one in particular. It was very obvious that his mind was somewhere else, and it didn't take a genius to guess where.

Hermione tried to answer as honestly and openly as she could. The last question, however, from Brody in Ontario completely threw her. "Brody wants to know if Hermione and Draco are _ever_ going to get together."

"That's not a real question." Theodore said, rolling his eyes at their stupidity and effectively breaking the silence. He'd been somewhat sullen after Blaise had stopped arguing so much.

"How do you know they haven't already lost themselves in a sea of passion and lust?" Blaise asked, his bored tone contradicting his words in a blatant fashion.

"Er…I don't…That's not…" She struggled to get something out of her mouth. Her face was burning and she felt flustered and embarrassed.

"All done?" Sheila popped around the corner, beaming at them and Hermione was intensely glad to see her, as her brain seemed to have lost all its ability to function.

"Yes!" She leapt to her seat and hurried to her side, whilst Jennifer looked mildly disappointed. "Let's hurry along."

She cast a furtive glance at Draco and blushed furiously when she realized he'd looked at her at the same time. Theodore was walking with an exaggerated bounce in his step, whilst Blaise simply looked up, as though praying for a high power to save him.

-

-

"Are you ready?" Theodore asked as Blaise straightened his collar. They were getting ready to meet Draco at one of the muggle doctor's offices, where he was meeting Helga. It was their third and final appointment of the day. Blaise had insisted he go along so that, should the results be bad, he could talk to Draco. Theodore had immediately agreed and added that he most certainly wanted to come as well, at which point Blaise had casually mention that Hermione come along as well, so they could complete the team. She'd hesitantly agreed.

So there they were, dressed in casual muggle clothes. She'd been amused to discover that really casual Wizarding clothes amounted to the same as semi-formal muggle clothes, with slight differences like embroidery and expenses. Blaise and Theodore had both pulled out slacks and collared shirts with fancy embroidery on them, which made her look hideously underdressed in her black knee length shorts and v-neck purple shirt with a white lace camisole.

But it was fine. She was only going to a clinic, anyway. It wasn't like someone _important_ was going to be there.

"Yeah." Blaise walked around his now-friend, scrutinizing the collar fixedly.

"It looks fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "Hurry up. They'll be done in a few minutes."

A part of her was desperately hoping to get there soon, while another part of her dreaded arriving. She supposed that, while she firmly believed that Helga was a lying imbecile and that it wasn't possible for her to have known she was pregnant the next day, as well as the fact that even if she was it didn't affect her life at all, she shouldn't be anxious. But she couldn't help remembering the expression of horror on Draco's face after Helga's announcement, and it made nervous jitters erupt in her stomach.

"We're going to be late." She poked Blaise, who was still staring at Theodore's collar with an abnormally high amount of intent. "It looks great. Let's go."

They piled out of the house and into the car they'd used for the road trip. Hermione ended up sitting in the back, staring out the window as Blaise drove, chatting amiably with Theodore and singing along softly to the radio in perfect tune. It was difficult to imagine that they'd been fighting just yesterday.

Sheila and James informed them that they would announce the winner of the challenge later that afternoon and would show them their interviews at the same time. She was pretty sure that they weren't going to win, considering Blaise had called Theodore a 'selfish bastard whose only goal in life was to screw around as much as he could without being called on it,' to which Theodore called him a 'wretched son of a bitch whose only goal in life was to screw as many _people_ as he could.'

Unfortunately, not even thinking idly of the hostile relationship Theodore and Blaise had could distract her from the reason of their present location – inside their car – and she spent much of the ride wondering how Draco would react if Helga was, indeed, pregnant.

They got to the clinic twenty minutes later, largely due to Blaise's speeding and the various ways he'd managed to get around heavy traffic, and she followed them up to the top floor. There were several people sitting in the chairs, including a middle aged woman who smiled as Hermione and Blaise walked in and then looked scandalized as Theodore joined them, which Hermione attributed to the fact that it was primarily pre-birth clinic.

They sat down in the only three seats available together and she sat beside Blaise, hands clasped in front of her, staring at the floor. Theodore looked around boredly, gazing unflinchingly at the people who stared at them until they looked away from the pressure of his eyes, while their other friend sent suggestive looks at the middle age woman and took extra time to touch both Theodore and Hermione in multiple ways that were sure to give her the wrong idea.

Just as Blaise was possessively holding Theodore's arm while tracing shapes on her hand – which he'd coaxed out of her lap, to the horror of the other woman, as he'd been obsessively fixing Theodore's collar at the same time - Draco emerged through the door. They all sat up in attention immediately, Hermione's eyes scanning the blonde's face for signs that the worst had been announced. Helga came out after him, clearly sulking.

"She's not pregnant." Draco said, his face completely devoid of emotion, and then a smile broke out. "She's not."

Hermione's jaw dropped open briefly and transformed quickly into a deep grin. She would always say that she'd firmly believed Helga was lying, but she'd been very worried that, should she have been wrong, Draco's life would change completely. "Really?" She's intended that to be a statement, but it came out as more of a question.

"Yeah." He was grinning happily, "All the doctors said the same thing."

"Why are you so glad?" Helga demanded tearfully, "We could've started a family together! Urgh!"

He turned to look pityingly at her. "Helga, it was one time. One mistake. Did you think I _wanted_ to start a family?"

"Maybe." She muttered, giving Hermione a dark look. "_Ob_viously not. I thought you'd come around! You're just glad so you can spend more time with your wife!"

The middle aged woman watched in shocked dismay as she pointed to Hermione, whose hand was still underneath Blaise's. The dark male sniggered, before attempting to cover his laughter by coughing.

"It's been…Interesting, Helga." Draco finally mustered up, "I think its time we part ways."

"Fine! Whatever!" She snapped at him, crossing her arms over her vast chest. "You'll come around! I know it!"

Hermione knew that she shouldn't. It might have been simply because she pitied Helga so much, despite how frustrating she was, and she didn't particularly want to see her continue to humiliate herself, so she said, "It's been nice, Helga, but we'd appreciate it if you would leave."

For a moment, while the other occupants in the room watched in bated breath as though it was a teen drama, Helga looked like she would charge forward and attack Hermione. Instead she let out a strange, low growl and stalked from the room.

Blaise whistled. "Good riddance."

She shrugged, happy and hoping that she would never encounter Helga again. Her eyes met Draco and she grinned at him, to which he responded similarly. Together, leaving the aghast woman in the clinic, who, by then, was clutching her heart, they turned and left, for once with the semblance of a real team.

**Author's Note: It's officially summer, now. All my exams are completed. I can now go curl up in a corner and be sad about my horrible updating without being concerned for my marks. I'm sorry, by the way. I'd have liked to try and edit it more to try make it better, but I'm feeling quite unwell right now.**

**If any of you are interested in seeing a complete version of the interview, let me know and I'll write it. As well, I encourage all of you to submit question you'd like them to answer in said interview, and your name and location (you could even say your continent or lie, if you want) that you would like answered by these wonderful characters. As well, the chapters following this are going to be covering a lot more time than in the past. I don't want this story to drag horrendously. Is everyone cool with that?**

**Thanks for reading and review review review!**


	23. Seamlessly, I Fit

**Author's Note: Summer is scorching me. This story is now being listed under humour (or I guess humor, since the website is American, I believe.) as well as romance, as I've been told it's funny. I'm not going to lie, I rather enjoy being told I'm funny. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! If I didn't reply to your review last chapter, I'm very sorry, as it probably got lost in the depths of my inbox. I will make sure to get you this time.**

**Special thanks to my wonderful beta Nikki, who also named this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If you're shocked that I still don't own Harry Potter, I actually feel more pity for you than for me. Oh, I also don't own music by Patrick Wolf or Bon Jovi.**

The following week passed quickly for Hermione. Theodore and Blaise behaved themselves, for the most part, however they still acted badly enough to lose them the interview challenge. As a reward, the Pansy Pickers went out to a nearby town (with Luna) and were allowed to do whatever they wanted, while the Bloody Fuckers just hung around the house. She wasn't sure exactly what they'd done, but the next day she suspected there may have been some drinking involved, at least on Pansy's part.

In terms of Draco, Harry and Ron they now had a system of interaction. They would mostly ignore each other until Quidditch became a factor, in which they could become grudgingly polite. It turned out to be necessary, as they rotated the partnerships between them all to keep it interesting. Theodore was moderately easy to get along with, because when he was immensely hyper he was friendly to everyone, and when he wasn't he rarely stayed long enough to say more than a few swear words.

She found that, to her surprise, she spent an almost equal amount of time with Harry and Ron than with her own teammates. Occasionally the two would go out to play Quidditch, and soon Blaise and Draco would come out while she sat on the ground in the sun, watching, and would join the game. If Theodore was in a social mood he would come and sit beside her, though they didn't often engage in conversation for too long. Once Pansy had come out and, as they all seemed to be in jovial moods from the mixture of sunshine and exhilaration, Draco had sat out for a bit and she'd had a go.

Hermione had watched their agile figures dart around in the sky and their bubbling laughter drifted over to her. Theodore was lying back on the grass, his eyes closed, and she'd glanced at Draco, only to start when she saw that he was gazing straight at her. She stared back, transfixed with the way his skin was glowing in the sunlight and the soft strands of his silvery gold hair danced gently in the breeze.

"What are you staring at?" She'd finally mustered up the courage to ask, which was ridiculous because it wasn't as though it was a very difficult question to ask.

"You." Had been his only reply, and they'd both turned, the moment broken, when Pansy landed on the ground before them.

"You can join in, again." She'd said, holding her broom awkwardly. Hermione had wondered why she had one, if she wasn't on the Quidditch team and hadn't seem to display much interest in it, but realized that she could like flying and not play Quidditch. There seemed to be a common assumption that flying a broom meant a rabid obsession with the sport.

Pansy had taken Draco's vacated spot the moment he moved and turned to look at Hermione. "Everything I told you was true, you know."

"Sorry?" She'd wanted to sound careless, like she hadn't really noticed the girl beside her, but it had ended up sounding a bit incredulous.

"Everything I told you, that day, during the challenge…It was all true. I didn't lie." Pansy had pulled her hair over her shoulders, letting it hang in a way that almost obstructed Hermione's view of her face. "And you listened, which is more than I can say most people would do. I shouldn't have – it was wrong. To lie to you like that. And I…well, I mean I'm…"

"It's OK." She'd said, saving the other girl from the pain of uttering two words Hermione didn't think she'd heard from a Slytherin before. "I suppose I understand why you did it, even though I'm still angry about it." She turned back to her friends and teammates, high in the sky, because it was easier. "I forgive you for it."

Pansy had been silent for a long moment. "So are we…friends?"

"I don't know. Maybe. We can try again." She responded, "I might not trust you as well."

"Of course." Pansy responded, but she smiled and Hermione couldn't help herself from smiling back.

The weather had been extremely good and seemed to be a good reflection of Hermione's moods – bright and sunny. And so the week passed, a blur of peacefulness and the kind of relaxing warmth the word summer was often associated with.

That was, until Sheila and James announced their next challenge. The day itself had started out fine – she'd woken up in good spirits, despite the slight ache in her back she still had from sleeping in the car - anticipating the day's challenge and spent a bit of time mulling over what it could possibly be. Over a breakfast of French toast and orange juice –which she had cheerfully provided for her teammates – they had a semi-nice conversation, including Theodore, who seemed to be in his most normal mood to date. They walked out to the garden, which had seemed especially beautiful, and she gave Sheila and James a happy smile.

The two had what appeared to be the same white board hovering behind them that they'd had at the last challenge, completely blank. When the Pansy Pickers joined them, not long after her own team arrived, Sheila began to talk. "For today's challenge we're going to have our own triathlon!"

Hermione stared, incredulous, as James continued. "Of course, it will be smaller than your usual triathlon and, instead of having one person do the whole course we'll have one member from the team do each section. Now, look here." The board flipped over and showed a series of lines, the first one wavy, the second jagged and the third straight. "Because the triathlon is divided into only three different parts, someone on the Bloody Fuckers will have to sit this one out."

The three males looked inward to each other, but Hermione was transfixed with horror on the wavy line and didn't move. She thought that Draco gave her a strange expression, but couldn't really say, as the only thing that registered in her mind was an overwhelming panic. "The first part will be swimming for 700 meters, the second will be cycling for one kilometer and the third will be running for one kilometer."

"We'll let you go back inside for now and get yourselves organized for the next half hour. You need to meet your car out front and you'll be taken to the site for the challenge." James was beaming at them, seemingly unaware of the fact that Hermione had lost some colour. "Any questions? Alright then, we'll see you in a bit!"

She managed to wait until they were inside the house and seated comfortably on the couch before she burst out, "I can't do the swimming."

"Why not?" Blaise asked with mild curiosity.

"I can't." She tried to sound normal and conceal the fact that her voice was shaking. "I just…I-"

"Are you afraid of water?" Theodore asked with interest, leaning forward for her response. She nodded, biting her lip. "I never pegged you to be one of_ those_. So who's going to do it? I'm rubbish at swimming quickly."

"I'll do it." Draco spoke up, watching her. "I can swim." When the anxiety on her face remained he continued in exasperation, "It's fine, Granger. We're not going to push you in there if you're afraid."

She nodded, trying to make herself calm down. Since the possibility had arisen that someone on her team would have to swim, she'd imagined herself in the water, surrounded by glowing bodies, dragging her under… It was completely irrational, she tried to tell herself, and took a deep breath, plunging back into the discussion. "Do any of you cycle? Like for a hobby?"

"I _have_," Blaise said slowly, looking doubtful. "But not really in the last year."

"I'm terrible at steering." Theodore said, shrugging. "I like to move the handlebars back and forth really fast and make the bike go in wavy lines. So I wouldn't be our best pick."

Blaise snorted but wisely didn't say anything. "I've never really gotten into it before." She admitted, "I didn't ever do it as a child, and never owned a bicycle. I don't know how good I could be. It looks like you're our best bet." She told the dark skinned male, "If you're willing."

"Sure. As long as I don't have to wear tight shorts." Was his reply, his white teeth flashing as he smiled.

"I thought you would like tight shorts." Theodore rolled his eyes, "You've got some pretty tight pants."

Hermione sighed, waiting for Blaise to snap something and for another argument to start, but instead he merely said, shocking Hermione with his lack of being provoked, "Who would be the better runner?"

Draco and Blaise looked between her and Theodore thoughtfully. "Theodore you run, don't you?" The blond asked, "You're fast."

"Unless he's sees a butterfly." Blaise said, laughing. "Then he might start chasing it."

"We were 11!" Theodore exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "I was easily distracted! All it takes for you are some uncommonly tight pants before _you _start drooling!"

"All this mention of tight pants is making me question you, Theo." Replied his amused friend, "You seem to have a rather strong fixation."

"I do not have a fixation with tight pants." He snapped with a hmph, displeased. "So am I running, then?"

"I suppose so." Draco said, "And Granger will sit it out."

Hermione couldn't say she really enjoyed that idea and something in her expression must have given that away, as Draco turned to her with his eyebrows raised. "What is it?"

"Nothing." She said nonchalantly, but he continued to look at her and so she relented. "It's silly. I just don't like being the person who has to sit it out."

"Are you still on about that stupid weak link comment?" The blond asked, rolling his eyes. "Marsha was just being her usual psychotic self, not attacking you personally. Besides, you can wait to give me a towel when I get out of the water. Then we both win."

Somewhat mollified she smiled, and then looked questioning. "I fail to see how I win."

"You get to see me shirtless, of course." He smirked cockily, making her sigh in exasperation and open her mouth to say something back, however she was interrupted.

"We should go get ready." Theodore said, looking coldly at Blaise. Apparently he tight pants comment was still with him. "Do you think we need to warm up before we get there?"

They all got up, contemplating the need of stretching as they filed out of the room. She winced slightly and rolled her shoulders as her back twinged. As she passed him, Hermione hit Draco on the shoulder. He turned to her, grimacing. "What was _that_ for?"

"I do _not_ want to see you shirtless." She said vehemently, slipping in front of him and out the door.

He grinned.

-

-

It didn't seem to take very long to bring them to the site of the race, however when they got out of the car she was shocked at how isolated they seemed to be from all forms of life. The setup of the course, however, was perfect. A little too perfect for her not to wonder if magic had been involved. Nevertheless, she couldn't help admiring their surroundings.

When she looked out the window and saw that they'd turned into a forest, she was very doubtful, since there wasn't a path and you couldn't really see very far ahead of you and there was no lake or stream or anything for the swimming. However when it had opened into a spacious clearing she was satisfied by what they found there. The first thing she'd noticed – not without a shiver of uneasiness – was the edge of a lightly coloured lake, which implied that it wasn't of the deep variety. There was a small dock set a bit into the water and seven orange buoys marking, what she assumed, each hundred meters. There was a dirt path that she could see, if she squinted, beginning beside an orange blob, and it circled the outside of the lake. This, she assumed, was where Blaise would begin biking. It was just on the very last turn of the curve that she could make out an orange blob that must indicate Theodore's part. The distance he would have to run looked rather daunting to her, and she was silently thankful to be sitting it out.

The Pansy Pickers were eyeing the sight impressively when they got out of the car and walked over to the small group. Sheila and James were dressed impeccably, making the odd assortment of swimming trunks, shorts and old t-shirts look even stranger. Hermione noticed that Ron was wearing swimming gear as well, so she looked between Harry and Pansy in an effort to see who would be doing which part. After taking in Harry's expression of uncertainty while he eyed up the last stretch, she figured it was safe to say that he would be running against Theodore.

"All ready for the challenge?" James asked delightfully, looking amongst the group clustered in front of him. "I understand that Hermione is the one sitting out of this challenge?"

"Yeah." She said, when no one else spoke. For some reason Theodore glanced at her and, taking in her expression, smiled briefly before turning away.

"Alright, so we're going to have you take a boat over to the other side of the lake and hand over towels when the swimmers are finished." Sheila said cheerfully, "There's nothing like a helping hand from a friend!"

The word boat made her stomach jump unpleasantly, but she didn't speak and James continued. "Now, when the swimmer reaches the other side of the lake, they must touch the biker on the hand, shoulder or back before the biker can proceed. The same rule applies for the runner. We'll come around and pick the first two up, and then bring you back to the finish line. We'll ask the two swimmers to get out onto that dock, which is where you'll start. Do you have any questions at all before we get started?"

They shook their heads, so Sheila and James began to distribute goggles and helmets where necessary. They then gave the groups a list of stretches and warm-ups to do, which Hermione dutifully went through with her team, and then they were ready. After making sure that both Draco and Ron completely understood the concept of waiting until they heard a horn to start swimming, everyone else was told to go towards a boat. Resolving not to be irrationally afraid, she tried to ignore her stuttering heartbeat.

Theodore and Blaise walked over to Draco, who appeared to be a bit nervous, and started talking quickly and encouragingly. She strode over to join them and gave him a small smile. "Good luck. You'll do fine, just don't wear yourself out at the start by swimming madly."

He nodded, though she was sure he'd already thought of that suggestion and looked seriously at her. Their other two teammates were expressing their need to go to the boat, and he said, softly, "Just sit down so you can't look over the side."

"I will." She promised and Draco watched as she hurried over to Ron, gave him a quick good luck and then followed his other teammates onto the boat. Blaise gave him a short wave and he saw Hermione disappear under the boat's wall, so he assumed she'd sat down.

He and Ron looked at each other. "I'm going to swim out to the dock." He informed the red head, wading into the water. The temperature was mildly surprising, as it wasn't icy cold or very warm. It was somewhere in the middle, so he kind of liked it.

_Like Granger. _A small voice said, but he barely registered the comment because of Ron's splashing entrance to the water. The dock wasn't terribly far inwards, so it took very little time to get there, even moving at a leisurely dog paddle. Actually, he decided, it was suitable for Ron to move at a dog paddle, but he had to be moving with much more elegance and grace. So it definitely wasn't a dog paddle. More of a…panther paddle. Or something.

After pulling himself out of the water he squinted slightly against the sun, trying to make out the figures he knew would be on the shore. The boat had just stopped where he knew Theodore and Harry would be dropped off, so soon they would be getting ready to go. Settling down on the rocking wood he stared thoughtfully into the water.

So many things had happened as of late. Things that made him seriously wonder about certain opinions he had. The entire pregnancy thing with Helga had terrified him beyond belief, convincing him that his entire life was about to change. Now that it was over and things were back to normal, he was left wondering what parts of his life hadn't changed yet since the end of the summer.

The most prominent thing, of course, was the tentative and awkward near-friendship that had formed between him and Hermione. There was something about her that he couldn't explain – but there was something that seemed to want to draw him to her. The way she seemed to command attention and glowed brightly amongst other people was very enticing.

The fear of water thing was extremely weird. Something about it made him want to look more in depth at her apparent terror. Maybe she could get over it, if someone helped her. He knew there were many types of cognitive therapy you could get to get over fears, and a fear of water was definitely something that would impede on her life.

"Are you ready?" Sheila's amplified voice startled him out of his musings and he jumped, slowing getting to his feet. Ron made the thumbs up and he did so as well, because he doubted they would see a sharp nod, his preferred signal. "Get on your mark…Get set…"

He leaned forward on the edge of the dock, planning to dive in and get a good start. A loud horn punctuated the silence and he launched himself off the dock in a graceful arc, dividing the water under his angled hands as he slipped seamlessly into it. He was aware of Ron's presence from the small, muted crash of water before he began to kick forward.

His head broke the surface of the water and he took a gasping breath, before submerging himself and immediately slipping into a quick front crawl, his arms driving him forwards in the lake and his legs adding speed. With his eyes open in the water he was able to see that it wasn't very deep, perhaps about 100 meters or so. What made him suspicious was that there were no fish, and the wildlife down there didn't seem to be very old. He passed over a log that had no algae, moss or was decaying even slightly.

_I wonder if this lake existed before Sheila and James had a need for it. _He wondered, but was struck from his ponderings when Ron pulled in front of him, alerted by the splash of water sent straight to his face. _Get your head in it. _He told himself, giving an almighty kick and driving his arms harder into the water, propelling his way forward.

_There is no way I'm going to lose to Weasley. It's not an option. _When he next looked up, he was startled by how near they both were to the shore. He could see Hermione, Blaise and Pansy waiting, though he couldn't make out any of their features. He dove back beneath the water, his hair streaming out in all directions. He didn't dare look over at Ron.

His ears vaguely caught the cheering coming from his teammates in the brief moments he was above the surface. He was grateful for the stretches they'd done, as he was sure that without them the slow burning in his limbs would be a lot more noticeable. And also painful.

The bottom of the small lake was beginning to slope steadily upwards and, even though he had the hideous goggles on, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to scissor the water with his arms. Barely turning his head enough to take a quick breath he sped forward, driving all thoughts from his head. When his leg touched something his eyes flicked open and he was both shocked and relieved to note how close they were.

The longer strands of weed caressed his feet, though it was still too deep for him to touch the floor standing up. He cut through the water, the burning in his muscles escalating to the point where he was sorely tempted to stop.

"GO MALFOY! GO-"

The next time he breathed he heard the snatch of Hermione's voice, accompanied by an indistinguishable shout from Blaise, and he pushed on. His eyes were wide open and he could clearly see the detail on their faces, as well as the slight distance between him and Ron.

His right foot hit sand, but he kept careful note of how deep the water was and kept swimming. It would only slow him down if he tried to run through the water, so it only made sense to swim as far forward as he could. He reached that point when his right hand disturbed the floor of the water, sending an explosion of sand into his face. He hauled himself up and ran, trying to keep his legs high so he didn't fall back in, which would be embarrassing. Blaise was waiting, ready to start cycling, by the starting line and he ran straight for that direction, barely noticing Hermione in his focus. Water was pulling on his swimming trunks, but they didn't fall off, to his relief, and he made it over to his friend before Ron reached Pansy.

Blaise was hardly able to register a smug smirk when he saw Hermione's blush upon Draco's exit from the water, the liquid streaming down his hair and bare chest to the shore, before he felt a slap on his shoulder and instinctively kicked off. The steady clicking from the wheels on his bicycle set a sort of rhythm and he sighed as the speed of his travel made wind blow in his face.

_I should really start doing this again. Maybe there's a local club I could join. _He thought contemplatively and then smirked, _No one around here wears tight enough clothing. Theodore was right on that count._

The accompanying sound of a second set of clicking reminded him of the fact that he was supposed to be racing, not thinking about the advantages of joining a cycling group, so he shook his head slightly and leaned forward on the bike, picking up the pace slightly. It would be no use to go at his full speed and be too tired at the end to keep pedaling.

Pansy didn't seem to share the same sentiment and was pedaling furiously so that they were right beside each other. Grinning devilishly he lifted his hand and waved cheerfully. She shot him a scathing look in return, which he shrugged off in favour of humming under his breath along with Bon Jovi, who he was listening to on his iPod.

Music made life better, he thought with happiness, letting his mind wander along that path for a bit. Pansy had pulled slightly in front of him, which didn't bother him in the slightest, as he could see that, while they were only halfway finished, there was a small, barely noticeable drag in her pedaling. She was already wearing herself out from pushing herself too fast, whereas while he was feeling the effects of the exercise, he still had lots of energy still left to continue on in the race.

_Oh, we're halfway there. Oo-oh, living on a prayer! Take my hand, we'll make it I swear…_Bon Jovi was quite good. He'd developed a particular fondness for them after seeing Harry dance around in leather trousers, singing their music. Not that anyone else needed to know that particular tidbit of information.

His mind was brought back to that day – it was such a good memory. Even thinking of it made him want to start blurting things out and revealing details about conversations that, really, weren't finalized and shouldn't be discussed. And then the music…Music was passion. You let it grasp your soul and then it took you to other places, no matter what situation you were in. It expressed feelings better than any words or actions ever could. The moment when his heartbeat blended seamlessly with the song and his entire body and soul felt the music was the best sensation he'd ever experienced in his life.

He was getting closer and began to pick up his speed, pedaling faster until he and Pansy were right beside each other, and then he was pulling up in front of her, hardly aware of their positioning. His breathing was coming faster and his legs began to burn, but he paid no attention to that, instead pushing himself harder.

With a mild spurt of happiness he recognized the opening cheer to the song The Magic Position, which he completely adored, and unconsciously began to pedal in time with the fast violin that was pounding away in his ears. He could feel his head start bobbing and knew he probably looked ridiculous, yet couldn't help himself from moving to the beat of the song.

That was the picture Theodore saw as Blaise began fast approaching and he felt a moment's exasperation before he prepared himself to start running. The tires dragged on the ground with a crunching noise and he heard Blaise jump off, before someone hit him in the middle of his back.

With a burst of speed he took off, his heart beating faster already from anticipation. Bringing an iPod – he'd discovered in his room a basket identical to what his friend's had received and inside he found everything that they'd been given, all of which he had no idea how to use and coloured the same deep red – was a good idea and he regretted not thinking of it himself. But then, he didn't have the same connection to music that Blaise did, so hearing a few notes strung together and singing that was hardly passable didn't really give him the same amount of strength it did to his friend.

Glancing swiftly backwards he guessed he'd run about 300 or 400 meters already, so he dropped the pace to a face paced jog and not a full on sprint. Harry was a couple of feet in front of him, even though Pansy had arrived several moments after Blaise, which he disliked not only because he hated being last, but because he didn't like the sound of his competition's heavy breathing.

He looked to the lake, which was probably not the best move since he should be concentrating on running and not losing to Harry, and saw that the boat had picked up the others and was just pulling up to their destination. The moment it took to take in his surroundings slowed him and he watched his companion gain more distance. Still, though, he hated not knowing what was going on around him and couldn't have resisted the temptation of a quick glance.

Gritting his teeth he forced himself to acknowledge that it would be stupid to go faster for the simple satisfaction of getting ahead, as he would likely fall behind again and not have the energy to keep going. Patience was a virtue he lacked and he was forced to consent to being in last. Perhaps to someone else it might not have mattered that there were two of them and only one could win, which immediately set the position of the other, but to Theodore's relentless desire to win it was nothing.

His breathing was much more erratic now and his lungs felt like they might be on fire, a feeling that got on particularly well with his calf and thigh muscles. From the sudden change in Harry's quick speed he guessed that this feeling was shared and, with bitter irritation hoped that Harry's impulsive dashing would cost him dearly later on.

They were now close enough that he could make out the figures of their awaiting companions, as well as the occasional jump and insane movement of flying limbs. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes he flexed his right hand, which had been quite tense in its fist, and then picked up his speed ever so slightly so that Harry might not pick up on it and go faster as well.

He was slowly gaining on his competition, however his footsteps must have served as some sort of alert because Harry began to run faster now. And _damn_, he was fast. Letting out a growl he took another step and then began to sprint full out, a few hundred meters before he'd planned. For a minute or so the happiness that accompanied the release of his tension filled him, and then he began to curse himself for running this way, as now he had to sustain the speed for a lengthily distance when he already wanted to stop and drop to the ground.

By now the faces and cries of his friends were quite distinguishable, which gave him the wild desire to stop in his tracks and cross his arms defiantly over his chest. He hated people who tried to encourage him. If he was going to do it, he would do it. If they thought that because they were expressing to him that _they_ wanted him to do it, it would somehow give him the energy to keep going, they were sorely wrong. And also stupid.

_Potter. Will. Not. Beat. Me. _The same words beat over and over in his head, the same way the beat from Blaise's music had, the same way Draco's determination and focus overrode all other senses and the same way Hermione's emotions flowed throughout her body. The centimeters separating their bodies grew into inches and then he could no longer see the Gryffindor in his sight, and soon the hoarse cries of his housemates were unbearably close. His harsh breathing, aching body and annoyance at their cheering disappeared as he passed the pylon marking the finish line and found himself encircled by three other people.

"Good job!" Hermione called out happily, whilst Draco clapped him heartily on the back and Blaise pulled them all into a hug, the purpose of which Theodore suspected was more to connect Hermione and Draco than out of a sense of team unity.

"And the Bloody Fuckers are the winners!" Sheila called out, which he barely heard over the babbling from both teams.

"Walk it off. Just walk it off." Blaise was informing him, pushing him slightly so he would begin walking and clapping him on the shoulder. The separation from other bodies was highly relieving and he bent over for a moment, sucking in air, before starting walking in circles. The fire in his lungs was receding rapidly now that he'd stopped and he was suddenly desperate for water.

"Here." Harry came over and offered him a water bottle, an identical in his other hand. "Nice race."

"Sure." He said, but accepted the bottle and gave a nod in return. Hermione wandered over to talk to her friend, which gave him the perfect opportunity to leave and continue his small stroll, trying to calm his raging heartbeat.

Draco stood off the side, toweling his hair dry and removing any remaining droplets of water from his skin. He seemed in a charitable mood and had perhaps forgiven Pansy, as they were in a conversation. Blaise was talking to Ron, who let his own hair remain wet and had his towel slung over his shoulder. As though sensing his gaze, the Slytherin looked over and grinned, waving while he twirled one of his headphones in his right hand. Hermione was grinning at Harry and the pair was walking in slow paces to help him cool down. Both were perfectly at ease and there was a casual air about them.

The sight of such a natural, easy group of people made him wonder if there would ever be a place he could seamlessly fit into.

-

-

Hermione's team arrived back at the House with happiness. They'd won the challenge and, as a reward, were being given an excursion to a nearby beach and some time to look around shops near that area. She was quite certain she'd never seen an expression of such pure joy than on Blaise's face at that moment, at least until Harry had pulled off his shirt a few moments later to replace it with a new one.

They'd been given fifteen minutes to get back, change and meet out the front of the House to depart for their destination. She'd been mentally going through her list of bathing suits in search of the one that showed the least skin and, upon their arrival, she jumped from the car.

"Hey, Draco, could you bring your mother's ointment stuff?" Blaise asked as they hurried inside, an eager light in his dark eyes.

"Hey, Blaise, could you not wear your speedo today?" Theodore mimicked his tone, rolling his eyes and pushed open the door to his room.

"Only if you promise to wear yours!" He winked and darted into his room, ignoring the middle finger Theodore directed at him. "See you soon!"

"I'm having a…" The closing of Theodore's door prevented them from hearing the rest of the sentence, which could have been a good thing, if the dark expression on his face anything to go by.

Something in the way both Hermione and Draco stood awkwardly made her feel obligated to say something, so she said, quickly, "Good job on swimming. See you in a bit," and quickly disappeared into her room.

Even hurrying, Hermione was almost late. She'd ended up wearing her red bikini, her favourite as it didn't have string in the place of straps. It also wrapped flawlessly around her neck with a halter, and therefore could not come untied. She obviously wasn't going to go swimming, but she could lie there. On top of that she wore a pair of black shorts and a t-shirt and inside her bag she'd shoved a blanket, sunscreen, water and her camera.

Theodore's hair was dripping when she arrived, so she assumed he'd either had a shower or had sweated so much his hair was soaked through. The previous was more likely. Blaise's hair was also wet, however it was tousled and looked like it had been toweled dry. The males were all dressed in swimming trunks and Draco was already applying copious amounts of sunscreen to his arms, legs and face. Blaise grinned at her, his angular face alight with happiness.

"Not a moment too soon." He said as their car pulled up in front of them. They climbed in the back, as it appeared they would be driven to the beach, and she relaxed comfortably in the seat.

"That was actually sort of fun," Blaise said thoughtfully, after no one else spoke. "The whole cycling bit, really. I thought of joining up somewhere for it."

"It was fun to beat Potter," was Theodore's heartfelt response, complete with sarcastic edge and slight glare at his friend. Apparently he was still sore over the tight pants thing.

"I'm sure Granger enjoyed handing me a towel." Draco said, smirking devilishly at her.

She narrowed her eyes, clearing letting him know that if they weren't separated by Blaise, she would punch him again. "I did not enjoy handing you a towel."

"If you want," he offered generously, "We can relive that moment. I'll come running out of the lake and you can ogle my body whilst holding out a towel for me."

"I did_ not_ ogle your body." She protested and ignored the small noise she heard from Blaise that showed he didn't agree with that statement. "Fortunately, Malfoy, I'm not attracted to scrawny ferrets."

She looked out the window, a smile playing on her lips as she tuned out his squawks of protestation, or at least until Theodore forcibly hit him and told him to shut up, at which point a contemplative silence filled the car.

They arrived shortly after and piled from the car, her bag slung over her shoulder as she surveyed the beach. It was packed full of people on blankets, people playing with beach balls, people in the water, people tanning and a lifeguard perched atop a tall wooden chair, who seemed to be of particular interest to Blaise, if the look the dark male shot over his sunglasses was any indication.

They found an empty spot after walking over the hot sand and she laid out her blanket, before settling down on it and digging out her sunscreen. Her teammates had mirrored her movements and Draco was now busy applying another layer of sunscreen on himself, while Theodore laid back and closed his eyes, appearing to all eyes completely asleep. Blaise made a rather dramatic show of taking off his shirt and stretching, which drew the attention of a large collection of girls on the beach.

"What are the chances of that lifeguard being gay, do you think?" Blaise asked her, leaning back on his elbows. He was so intent on staring deliberately at the subject of his question that he was almost hit in the face with the container Draco threw at him. "Oh, thanks."

The sun was beating heavily down on her, sending waves of warmth through her skin and, while she had to squint behind her sunglasses, she was happy. Despite the rather large grouping of dark water in front of her, all around her there was sand and heat and also, she couldn't help taking a second look, a few attractive males.

"Hey, Hermione, do you have a problem with your back?" She snapped to look around at Blaise, who grinned rather wolfishly in understanding.

"Er, well it sort of hurts." She replied, shrugging. "It's not too bad, I think it's from the car."

"Use this!" He handed her the jar and its familiar vanilla scent made her smile.

"OK, thanks." She opened it and then paused, contemplative. She would probably need to take her shirt off, which she'd been hoping to avoid doing.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked and she realized she was staring into the jar. "Are you still thinking about me?"

"I do _not_ think about you." She retorted quickly, frowning. "I'm pausing in…thoughtfulness." He snorted and she glared defiantly at him, before reluctantly pulling her shirt up and then stopping halfway. Quick as a flash Blaise reached over and drew it right off and she gaped at him. "Did you just – how many times have you _done_ that?"

He grinned, throwing her shirt back to her. "I've become quite good. Practice makes perfect! Do you need some help?"

She hesitated. On the one hand, she couldn't exactly reach the middle of her back, but on the other, that didn't mean she wanted someone else's hand there.

"Trust me," he took the jar from her hands, "I get nothing off this." He'd barely made contact with her back long enough to put some of the ointment on it when he stopped, jumped to his feet and said, "I find myself otherwise occupied, unfortunately. Draco will do it!"

The two (Theodore had yet to move) watched as he strolled over in the direction of two guys playing football, and then simultaneously turned to look at each other. Her face was flushing for reasons unknown to her and she avoided looking into his eyes. "It's alright, I can get it." She made an unfortunate attempt at moving around the lotion, but it was to no avail.

"I'll help." Hermione jumped as he moved closer and moved to sit behind her, his breath now caressing his shoulder. "Where's the jar?"

Shivering she handed it to him and, when he began to smooth it over her back, fought very, very hard not to sigh and lean back into him. For awhile there was only silence and a slightly uncomfortable tension in the air, full of feather light touches and a cool feeling spreading over her lower back, tinged by the odd spark of electricity. That hadn't happened the last time she'd used it, but she figured it was probably a new jar or something.

"Hey, Granger?" Draco asked softly behind her and her skin tingled from the sensation of his breathing over her neck.

"Yeah?"

"When did you become afraid of water?" His voice was so quiet she doubted Theodore, who lay not far from them, could hear.

"Er…" She struggled hard to concentrate and ignore how relaxed he was making her. "The end of last year."

"Do you think you could get over it?" He asked softly and she resisted the urge to turn and look at him, wondering about his expression. His voice sounded quite different from what she was used to and she found her mind drifting slowly as her eyes fluttered closed.

"Maybe." Was all she replied and for a moment it seemed as if he'd come quite close, as the pressure from his breathing suddenly increased on her neck, but when he next spoke it was at the same distance it had been before.

"If we offered to help you, would you accept?"

Hermione thought about the nightmares and the therapy and the glowing bodies and the total terror at being pulled under, and shook her head. "I don't think it would work." Her voice trembled every so slightly, which she told herself was from the memories.

"We can work on it." He informed her, his hands pausing. "We'd all help you."

"We could try." She said finally, feeling disappointed as he pulled away and moved back to the spot he'd been in before. The sunglasses he wore prevented her from seeing his eyes, but his lips were twisted into a small smile and he nodded at her. "All done." Hesitantly she smiled back.

Blaise was now being taught how to kick the ball, which he seemed to be enjoying, if the fact that he was steadily moving closer to the unsuspecting male was any indication. He glanced back and saw them, grinning.

When he used that smile, sometimes Hermione wondered whether she was being incredibly oblivious.

**Author's Note: **

_Anonymous reviewers (skip over if you aren't one.):_

_katphoenix: I got your review for chapter 21, however I thought it was for another story so I didn't make a note of it in the last chapter, and since it was anonymous I had no way of replying to it! Sorry it's taken so long to reply. :) Haha. If you love my music, you're good in my books. I like that song by Carolina Liar! Thanks! You say your birthday is in August – happy belated or happy early birthday! :) That quotation is my favourite thing in life right now. I am dead serious. ;) I'm glad you're enjoying!_

_Don't Trust The Silver Eyes: Haha, thanks! I do that too! I just be very, very quiet and they don't realize I'm still on the computer, reading._

_Embir_Lily: I'm glad you're liking the story! :) To be honest, I haven't really decided who wins yet…xD._

_miss mimi94: Thanks for reading, and also for saying I'm funny (which I think has quite significant effects on my comedic ego. xD). I have proposed a Draco POV to everyone else, and I shall see if I can do it!_

_LucytheReviewer: Thanks for reviewing! 'Theodore is a freakadore' is possibly the most delightful thing I've ever heard. xD. I would kind of like to use that word in the story. xD. It brings me happiness!_

**Author's Note: So I recently got a review from a certain miss mimi94, requesting a POV from Draco. I might not be a whole chapter, but it would be more significant than what was in this one. Is anyone else interested in that? As well, I am putting up a new poll in regards to this story and the relationships in it, so I would dearly appreciate it if you would go vote!**

**One last thing! As my birthday happens to be this Wednesday (August 19****th****) I would also appreciate it if you would…**

**Review review review!**

**Also, Big Brother watchers, thoughts on Ronnie? The other house guests? I personally like the Russell/Jeff/Jordan alliance. I also liked Casey!**


	24. Knowing Your Team

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**Author's Note: There's a bit of team bonding going on in this chapter! The relationships are reaching deeper levels! (And I'm not just talking Draco and Hermione!)**

**These are the excuses, in no particular order: school, work, getting over suspected H1N1, dealing with the whole being-sick part, slight writer's block, procrastination, finished up a desperately long one-shot, editing another desperately long unfinished oneshot and social life (yup, I've got one! I found it outside on the ground…=P) I know it isn't what you like to hear, but unfortunately the real world must take priority, in some cases…**

**This chapter is currently unbeta'd, unfortunately, as I sort of sprang this chapter on my beta without enough time for editing, but I really wanted to update before the end of the year. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Also, near the end there is a part/idea that I credit to One Tree Hill. I can only wish I possess that sort of cleverness. Oh, and also the last line may remind those of you who have read the Princess Diaries books of that series, so just in case someone wants to sue me, I do not own it either.**

Their afternoon at the beach became a lot more eventful than Hermione had anticipated. It began fine, with a lot of relaxation and sun and the purposeful avoidance of the lake, however when Blaise brought his two soccer playing friends over, sat them down and started talking it all went downhill.

It was about midway through their conversation when the more talkative of the pair – Jackson - pointed out someone who'd done a great volley while playing beach volleyball and had grabbed his friend's hand. What made that worth noticing was that he didn't let go and proceeded to start tracing shapes on Brody's wrist, even when the pair had turned back to face their small group.

"Are you…?" Blaise was staring at them, an amused expression on his face.

"Oh. Er, right. So much for subtlety…" Jackson pulled his hand away awkwardly. "Yeah. We're together."

"Don't act so ashamed!" Brody grinned, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him closer. It was about that action when Blaise's expression became noticeably unreadable and the casualness of his posture tensed. "They don't mind!"

"So you don't care, then?" Jackson looked at them and Hermione shook her head.

"Trust me, we've learned to deal with strange gay people." Theodore said sardonically, "You just accept their strange obsessions with tight pants and move on."

Blaise still hadn't spoken, despite Theodore's obvious jibe, and there was a strange silence. Draco looked between his friend and the other two and hurriedly chose a topic he thought might be of mutual interest. "How long have you been together?"

"Two years." Jackson answered, and the two shared a happy, intimate smile. Hermione wouldn't have noticed what followed had she not been glancing at Blaise to try and figure out why he wasn't talking. Upon the start of the couple's smile, an expression of pure pain flashed across his face, before it was replaced by a smile of easy companionship so relaxed that the difference was shocking.

While Hermione blinked in confusion at the change the conversation continued around her. How had Blaise gone from such complete hurt to so happy? Unless he had, by far, the best mask of happiness she'd ever seen in her life. There was no way it was because the person he'd been flirting with for an hour was in a relationship. He didn't form attachments that fast, she knew, or he wouldn't constantly pick up guys for a snog and then drop them like hot potatoes. No, there was something else.

Theodore, upon noticing his friend's expression, immediately said, "So, Blaise, Draco, shall we head into the water?"

Blaise consented to joining his two friends, who were watching him with something akin to confused worry, and they strolled down to the water. Almost instantly a large gaggle of girls crowded around them, giggling and trying to make Theodore take his shirt off, which he steadfastly refused, touch Draco's hair, which he dodged quite expertly and to coerce Blaise into coming into deeper water, which he simply ignored. She was left to make small conversation with the Jackson and Brody and, after they wandered away, she caught up on some reading and relaxed in the sun. Some part of her mind kept going back to that moment, and the expression of pain on her friend's face, but when the three returned an hour or so later he seemed perfectly normal.

It was only a little while later, however, that more discontent appeared in their outing. Hermione had been dozing peacefully, her book resting over her eyes to block out the sun, when Draco felt it necessary to point out the attention of a girl nearby.

"That girl is looking at you." Draco informed Theodore, who sat up with a frown. She followed their gazes and recognized one of the girls who'd tried to get his shirt off and was now stretching out luxuriously on a towel, her eyes clearly looking in their direction.

"No, she's not. She's looking at you." The dark haired Slytherin resumed his former position of nonchalance.

"Ask her out." Blaise sat up, an expression of amused interest on his handsome face. Something, Hermione found, made her want to look closer and find out if it was a real or fake expression, as if she might find a small place where the mask could peel away and reveal what was really underneath.

"No." Theodore sat up as well and was glaring pointedly at Blaise. "I don't want to."

"Why not?" Asked his friend, "Scared?"

"No." The annoyance on his face and in his way of talking was a lot more severe than the other signs of irritation she'd witnessed on him before. "I'm not scared. I just don't want to."

"She _obviously_ likes you." Blaise was no longer giving him suggestive looks and now stared, fixated, at his friend with his eyebrows raised in aggressive challenge. "Right, Draco? She's been staring at him all this time."

Looking rather sorry to have mentioned it at all, Draco shot Hermione a look of exasperation. "Yeah, she has. But if he's not interested, just drop it."

"Why don't you just ask her?" The intense anger emanating from Blaise's tense voice and the glittering in his eyes gave Hermione the idea that his pointed pushiness was not focused completely on Theodore asking this girl out. Her thoughts immediately connected her suspicions to the incident earlier on, but she couldn't come to any sort of conclusion that made the two connect.

"Fuck off." Theodore snapped, his lips twisting. "I said _no_. Leave it."

"All she can do is reject you." The lilting snarl in his voice and the tense set of his shoulders seemed to be drawing some attention from the people around them.

"Guys," she tried to interject, but neither looked at her. "Calm down."

"Is that it? Are you afraid of rejection?" His voice was taunting and offensive, the spark in his eyes conveying his contempt.

"No." Theodore's jaw tensed and she saw a vein throb in his neck. His hands were clenched at his sides and he looked ready to spring and start beating Blaise to a pulp. He was trembling, she noted with unease. "Shut_ up_."

"All she can do is reject you, and you're _scared_." His lip curled as he laughed, "Poor little Theodore, afraid of being rejected because no one likes him."

"Shut the _fuck up_." It was very clear to everyone who was listening – and that didn't just include their small group, by then – that he was about to say something terribly rude and hateful. "Just because _you_ can't find someone who actually likes you for more than your body doesn't mean we've all got the same fucking problems."

Without realizing what she was doing Hermione leapt to her feet and moved in front of Blaise, who had, faster than she could imagine, jumped to his own and lurched towards his friend. She couldn't exactly describe what made her completely positive about the necessity of doing so but, later, she was sure it had to do with the expression that crossed Blaise's face. It was the same one he'd donned earlier. Draco, it seemed, had taken the same action as Hermione and they ended up being pressed back to back between their arguing teammates.

"Blaise, come on." She nudged his shoulder, which hardly reacted because of how tightly locked it was. "Let's go for a walk. Let it go." She could hear Draco saying something of the same sort and tried to implore with her eyes their need to get out of the situation. "People are staring. The lifeguard is coming over, let's go."

His eyes were ablaze with the kind of passion that she'd found in the clips of his eyes on the internet, but it was the intense sort of anger that made her wonder if he would push her away and go for Theodore again. His breathing was even and is hands weren't clenched in fists, but the tight stance of his body revealed more of his anger than anything else. She'd never seen him react so much to something.

Hermione tucked her arm into Blaise's and started walking towards a path she saw just behind the small building for washrooms. He had no choice but to follow her, unless he wanted to cause an even bigger scene. A quick glance back showed her that Theodore had his lips locked together and he wrenched his arm away from Draco, stalking in the opposite direction.

"Just breathe." She told him, not relinquishing her grip. He tugged on his arm but she steadfastly clamped it to her side and, with a sigh of frustration, he let her. "You can't let him get to you like that."

They reached the edge of the small assortment of trees and stepped onto the worn path and out of the intrigued eyes of those who'd seen their interaction. They walked a few moments in silence, and then she started speaking again. "I don't know how you two are friends, really, if this is how your conversations go."

"They're not." His voice was completely flat and, after looking quickly at him, she discovered the same, haughty mask he'd always had on at school currently residing on his features. The effect it had, after she'd seen the large variety of emotions he'd displayed, was jarring. "If we'd had that conversation a few months ago it would have gone a lot differently."

"Why does he always do that?" She asked, the sounds of laughter, shouting and splashing fading into the quiet silence of the trees surrounding them. She could hear cars driving by, so she knew they weren't very far from the opposite edge, and she stopped be a mossy rock and sat down, releasing her friend's arm. "He just criticizes and says blunt things that he_ knows_ will get a reaction."

"Theodore criticizes people," Blaise began quietly, "Because it's easier than trying and being rejected. He's less vulnerable and exposed."

She felt like he was going to continue on, however he didn't and she was left to contemplate his words. This insight sent shockwaves through her, but she realized almost immediately that it did seem to fit Theodore well. Or at least it fit parts of him well. "But what about when he's so happy? And he _has_ made friends, so he hasn't succeeded totally at keeping people at an emotional distance."

Her companion shrugged, but didn't speak. What Blaise had said seemed to be completely true, but she knew there also had to be more to Theodore than just that. There had to be many reasons behind why he did acted like that, not to mention the polar opposite sides of his personality.

When she glanced up, she was surprised to see yet another unfamiliar expression on Blaise's face. He was biting his lip, hard, his brow was crumpled and he was staring fixedly at the ground. She followed his gaze and saw nothing, merely a pile of ants racing towards an ant hill. Her mouth opened to ask what was wrong, but then closed immediately after. She didn't know what to say.

"Hermione?" When he spoke, his voice was so soft she almost didn't hear it, especially due to the fact that a car had just passed by. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She watched him take a few steps to the right and then suddenly make a move to sit beside her. His hands smoothed over the moss a few times, but he didn't say anything. "What's wrong?"

"Would you date me?" His words tumbled and tripped over themselves in his haste to say them, hardly distinguishable. "If you were a guy. Or if I weren't gay."

"Would I date you…?" She trailed off, slightly confused by what he was asking. Or rather, not so much the question but merely the purpose of asking.

"Never mind." He looked flustered and shook his head, "I just mean…I just want to know. You know. If I'm likeable. Whether someone will ever want to date me. I just…I can't ask Draco or Theodore. For obvious reasons. I just wanted to know. Just forget about it. It's alright. It was a stupid question. Let's talk about something else. Oh, look, a dog!"

He was babbling almost incoherently and talking in choppy, difficult to follow sentences, but she understood enough of his chatter to get the gist of what he was saying. Ignoring his pointing hand, she looked sympathetically at him. "You will meet someone, Blaise. Maybe not now, but there is someone out there that you'll be happy with."

He awkwardly nodded, still staring at the dog, who'd just appeared and oddly enough stared back at them without moving. "I just – I get tired of waiting. For someone."

"You don't really give off the impression that you're looking." Hermione replied honestly, watching his struggle to compose himself

"It's hard." He murmured quietly, almost too softly to be heard. "To be this way."

She raised her hand to put it on his shoulder and then paused, not really sure how to go about comforting him. Then she reached out and rested it there anyway. He was tense under her touch but then slowly relaxed, and the two remained sitting in silence for another minute or so, before a group of people came tumbling through the forest looking for their dog.

After they'd cleared out and brought back a sense of realism to the situation she got off the rock and wiped the dirt off her legs. "We should head back. It looks like it might start raining."

The sky was turning a dark blue and the clouds were moving quickly across its large expanse. Blaise nodded and followed suit, hurrying to walk beside her over the small path. Watching him from the corner of his eye she saw him schooling his features until he looked perfectly calm, at ease, and expressionless. Just before stepping out of the small forest he reached out to stop her.

"What is it?" She turned back, concerned, and was pulled into a quick, tight hug. She could feel his heart beating for the smallest of moments – the embrace was almost too short to even be a hug – and then he pulled away, awkwardly looking over her shoulder.

When the pair stepped out of the trees, both had gained something unexpected. Blaise had found a trustworthy confidante, and Hermione had found, what she thought, was the real side of Blaise Zabini.

-

-

After they'd returned from dinner, an awkward and almost silent affair, Hermione decided to find Harry and Ron. She could use some of their simple friendship, without many of the complexities that surrounded Blaise, Theodore and Draco. She found Harry easily enough, as their house's layout was very similar to her own, sitting in the living room.

"How was the beach?" Harry asked as Hermione wearily dropped onto the couch beside him.

"Pretty bad." She admitted, shrugging. He seemed to have been writing a letter, however when he noticed her looking he hastily rolled it up, flushing. That in itself was a good enough explanation for who it was to. "Theodore and Blaise got in a terrible fight."

"About what?" He glanced at the door that led to the kitchen, slightly anxious, which was the first thing that alerted Hermione that something strange was going on.

"It started out simple." She said, shifting a bit on the couch. "This girl was staring at Theodore, so Blaise suggested he ask her out. Theodore refused, Blaise called him a coward and they almost beat each other up. So Malfoy and I had to take a side and try to calm them down, which hardly worked. We did a bit of shopping, but ended up dividing anyway, and I'm pretty sure Blaise bought some al-"

"Do you think she's back yet?" To Hermione's shock, Andrea's voice came floating out the kitchen's doorway, which swung open. Emerging from inside, her best muggle friend and one of her best magical friends came walking out.

"Andrea?" She asked, startled. Her eyes instantly took in the way her friend was leaning on Ron, whose arm was around her waist, and her mouth dropped open.

"_Hermione_!" Andrea's eyes went very wide and she pulled herself away from the redhead, who stood stock still upon seeing her.

"You two…?" She looked between their awkward stances with interest. Her mind was reeling and she couldn't quite grasp the situation. It just wasn't logical. It reminded her of that time in grade two went Todd had tried to tell her two plus two was five and had ended in a screaming match, with Todd bursting into tears.

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about it, right now, actually, but…" Andrea was staring intently at Hermione's face, her own creased in worry. "I didn't think it would be fitting to say it over the phone or anything…"

Hermione was vaguely aware of Harry watching her fixedly and Ron, still unable to move, in the doorway. It was actually a bit comical to note that, while he was completely fine to move in a dangerous life-or-death situation the idea of a confrontation about his romantic life had him frozen. "So it's you he's been texting?"

"Yeah." Ron spoke, nodding, his face about the shade of a tomato.

"Oh." A smile broke out over her face, to the obvious relief of her companions. "Well, great!"

Clearly startled, her friends watched her, as though expecting her to abruptly announce that she'd been joking. "Did you think it would be a problem?" She asked, grinning. She was mentally drawing connections between Andrea and Ron that she hadn't even realized were_ there_ before.

"Er, yes." Ron said, taking a few steps closer to her. He was nearly knocked the side, however, when Andrea dashed over and threw her arms around her friend.

"Oh, I'm _so _glad." Andrea's hair was in her face and Hermione spluttered, spitting a few unwanted strands from her mouth. "I was a bit worried, you know, after the pact thing and everything." And then, much softer, "Why is your friend Harry writing with that feather?"

"You know! Boarding school kids," Hermione laughingly rolled her eyes, "Who knows what they do?"

Her friend frowned, "Do _you_ write with a feather?"

"No." She said and quickly changed the subject, "So, do you want to do something right now? We could…"

The expression on Andrea's face made her trail off slowly. After hesitating for a minute, the strawberry blonde began to speak. "Ron and I were actually going to go outside for a bit…"

"That's fine," she waved off their concern with a shrug, still feeling a slight sting, though. "Go have fun."

"OK." Andrea looked uncertainly at her, and then Ron, desperate to leave such an awkward situation, took her hand and the pair left. Hermione returned to her seat on the couch. Harry started writing hastily on his parchment, angling it so she couldn't have read it even if she tried, but not in a way that said he suspected her of trying to.

"Harry," she began suddenly, "Did the doors to your room have your names on them?"

"Yeah." He replied, nodding, "In blue. Glowing. Except now they change colour."

"Hm." She nodded thoughtfully and he went back to writing his letter, giving her time to think. Harry didn't seem very interested in conversation, absorbed entirely in the letter he wrote, so she bade him a quick farewell with the decision of doing some reading and walked back to her side of their house.

It only took Hermione a few minutes to reach her bedroom, and by that time she'd narrowed down what book she wanted to read to _Mansfield Park_ or _Five Days in Paris_. The relationship complexity in _Mansfield Park_, she decided, was exactly what she needed to detox her mind and give her a source of romantic entertainment for awhile. Unsurprisingly, she found, the writing on their doors had also changed colour, however they were all various shades of different colours, with the occasional streak of something else.

After changing into her pajamas, despite the early evening time, she pulled her smooth book off her shelf and crawled onto her bed, adjusting the blankets and pillows until she was comfortable. There was something so entrancing about Jane Austen's work. It took her a couple of minutes to really get into the stories, but after that there was almost nothing that could forcibly make her withdraw from whatever world she was currently residing in, be it _Northanger Abby _or _Sense and Sensibility._ She was always left wondering how a woman living in such a restricted period of time could have written so freely and known so well the ways of the human heart.

_Maybe it's the wondering. _Hermione stared absentmindedly out her window at the garden, where the dark clouds cast a shadow on the blooming flowers. _Maybe it's being forced to think about everything, because so little was actually shown clearly enough to understand. _

Turning her sights back on her book she opened it, hearing the familiar, crisp movement of the pages under her fingers. As the smooth, flowing words washed over her she steadily relaxed, until she wasn't even conscious of the book falling from her grip and her eyes closing.

-

-

A loud crash of thunder woke Hermione with a small snort. Blearily peering around she gathered that it was quite late or early morning, but since her alarm clock was flashing the power had apparently gone out and she didn't know the exact time. Outside her window was a sea of grey, water steadily slashing against the glass as it fell. Occasionally thunder and lightening punctuated the pounding sound of the rain beating down on the house. Rubbing her eyes and licking her lips she grimaced at the taste in her mouth.

Her feet touched the floor with a small thump and she stumbled slightly, before pulling on a sweater that was thrown over the end of her bed. After a moment's thought she snatched up her wand, before walking quietly down to the kitchen in search of some food to tide her over until the morning. She probably should have brushed her teeth, but figured it would be pointless to do that, eat, and then have to do it again.

The fact that the power could even go out was a mystery to her, as she'd always assumed, living in Hogwarts, that power just didn't go out in Wizarding homes. But then again, this house seemed to pretty much be a muggle place, except for the seven witches and wizards running around.

The light from the windows was enough to let her see, however the kitchen was more spacious than the hallway and quite dark on one side, so she muttered _Lumos _and lit up the room – including the looming figure in the corner.

"_Expelli_-" Before her heart gave even one shuddering beat and fear exploded through her she was mouthing a spell, only to be cut off by an irritated voice.

"Don't even dare, Granger." Draco's voice was as chilly as the temperature in the room, which was freakishly cold for the summer.

"_Malfoy_," Hermione pressed a hand over her heart, "You scared me!"

He was sitting on the floor by the refrigerator, easily within view as it was directly across from the door. Or at least, easily within view with proper lighting. She pointed her wand at him to get a better look and was given a loud curse in return. "Fuck, Granger, watch the light!"

"Sorry," she muttered, slowly making her way over to him. He was wearing plaid green and yellow pajama pants and a long sleeved matching shirt. "What are you doing up?"

"What are _you_ doing?" He retaliated, looking imperiously up at her in a way that immediately told her he was not in a friendly mood.

"Getting something to eat." Hermione replied, opening the fridge slowly to avoid hitting him on the side. Merlin knew what he would do _then_. Her eyes traveled swiftly over its contents and she picked out a small container of hummus and some flatbread, eagerly opening the container as she slid down the fridge door to take a seat beside him.

"Are you eating straight from the jar?" Draco asked with distaste, looking down his nose at her food. She shrugged at him, making sure not to double dip as she scooped the delicious, garlicky paste from the plastic container onto the bread and popping it in her mouth. "_That's_ sanitary."

"It's good." She said thickly, eyes watering from the large chunk of bread she'd just swallowed. "It's not like I'm mixing my saliva in it or anything. It's the same as using a bowl, except no dishes. Want to try some?"

He stared at the bowl like it was Fluffy and raised an eyebrow, "And have garlic breath for the next century? No."

Hermione paused in her chewing, her mind running over the fact that her teeth weren't brushed and now she'd eaten hummus. Her breath was probably terrible. _Oh, well. _She thought, dipping in the rest of her flat bread. _Its only Malfoy. Not someone important, or anything. _

Slipping the lid back on the container she stood up again and put it back in the fridge, along with the remaining flatbread. Draco watched her – or so she thought, as her wand was pointed into the refrigerator and not focused on him, so the direction of his gaze could have been masked.

"Did you actually stop eating because I told you it was disgusting?" He asked with some kind of tinge to it that made her irritation snap to life.

"Yes, Malfoy. I care so much about what you say that I let it dictate my eating habits." Rolling her eyes she went around opening cupboards until she found a glass, which was surprisingly difficult because she kept forgetting where they were and there were so many different cupboards. Eventually she found what she was looking for and got her water, before returning to sit down. "I only wanted a little."

Outside lightening flashed and for a brief moment the kitchen lit up brightly and threw everything into a grayish light. Draco flinched visibly and they plunged back into darkness, with only a small beam of light emerging from the tip of her wand.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, noticing the tense set of his shoulders and the way he pressed his lips together tightly. She might not have noticed if she hadn't squinted at him after he flinched.

"Nothing." He said shortly, small movement suggesting he was crossing his arms. A crash of thunder exploded outside and he started, elbows brushing her arms.

"Are you scared?" She asked, regretting it immediately when the tension in his voice heightened intensely.

"No, Granger, I'm not." He snapped, glaring in her direction.

She shrugged defensively, "I was only asking. Everyone is afraid of something. You shouldn't be worried or embarrassed about it."

Draco snorted. "Right. I'm not afraid of thunderstorms, OK? I don't like them, that's all."

"Fine," She snarled back, emotions rising angrily. "I was only asking."

"Well, don't." Was his annoyed reply, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't do the stupid heart-to-heart thing."

"That much is obvious, it requires an actual heart," Hermione rolled her eyes. They were both sitting straight, faces turned angrily to each other. "Why are you so defensive?"

"Why are _you_ so nosey?" Draco retorted, "I fail to see how you can be mad at me because I don't want to have a stupid heartfelt conversation with you. It's not like you're my friend."

That stung.

Obviously she hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about their relationship, but she'd almost subconsciously acknowledged their growing friendliness and immediately translated that into a friendship. And yet here he was, verbally rejecting the thoughts and feelings she'd developed over the course of the summer. Mere weeks. Almost nothing, in the grand spectrum of her life.

"If we're not friends," she almost winced at the pained offensiveness in her voice, "then I don't even need to be sitting here, talking to you at all. People who hate each other don't do this, do they? So why should we?"

"Exactly," Draco said in an equally nasty tone, practically spitting. "We shouldn't. I don't want to spend any more time with you in this God forsaken house than I have to."

"The feeling is mutual." Clutching the handle of a nearby drawer Hermione stood up, her wand sending streaks of bright light around the room. To her frustration, her grip on the drawer handle, combined with the pressure of pulling on it ripped it right off, sending her tumbling into the oven door. The drawer opened with the sound of countless amounts of utensils crashing together and she stared at it, clutching the small wooden knob. _That was the crappiest quality drawer I've ever seen._

And then Draco laughed. It was a small, quiet chuckle, really, but it prompted a fierce reaction within her, prompted by one thought. _Friends don't hurt each other. _Her eyes welled with tears that she couldn't explain, the silence following his small laugh broken by flashes of lightening and it's accompanying thunder. Once more Draco flinched from the sounds and she was overcome by a sudden deep resentment for him, all of him, taking over her control. She tossed the hand onto the counter, causing a loud, resounding bang.

The shocked expression on his face provided her with vindictive satisfaction. "Trust me, Malfoy, I wish I had never been on your team, and never had to suffer through being with you all the time and never had to deal with all your stupid mistakes and help you put your stupid mind back in order!" Her voice became higher over the course of her speech and by the end it was quite shrill.

"My stupid mistakes?" He mocked, getting to his feet. _Of course he could never tolerate being below me. _"What have_ you_ helped me with?"

"I don't know," She replied mockingly and spat her next words, "How about when you screwed around with Helga and thought she was pregnant? Does that count as a mistake?"

"Shut up, Granger." Draco snapped, reminding her vividly of Theodore as he yelled at Blaise on the beach. "Just fuck off. The biggest mistake I made this summer was getting to know you."

They stood, centimeters apart, and yet the distance felt much wider than it had before. She stared at him, breathing harshly as her vision became blurry. And then she turned, banging her hip painfully off the stove as she hurriedly left the room and flung her door open. Her eyes were stinging with tears that she convinced herself were from pain.

_It always hurts more when they mean something to you._

-

-

Draco sat in complete darkness in the kitchen, staring at the empty doorframe Hermione had disappeared through. Outside rain continued to pour uninterrupted, mirroring the storm of emotions fighting inside him. A part of him desperately wanted to go after her an apologize, the irrational part, while another wanted to go hide forever and never come out whilst still another, which sounded suspiciously like Theodore, congratulated him on pushing away something he would eventually have been forced to give up.

The part that disturbed him the most, of everything, wasn't even his desire to go after her and express distastefully apologetic sentiments. No, it was the fact that logically, distancing her now would be easier than later, but he didn't care. He would rather make it doubly painful by the end of the summer, allowing the two of them to tactlessly weave around each other and become closer then to never get close to her in the first place.

That was not normal or healthy. Hermione Granger seemed to inspire the worst ideas and emotions within him, with her persistent_ emotions_ and cheerfulness and deep brown eyes that were too captivating to be perfectly normal. The worst part of all that, too, was that he couldn't help but like it.

"Fucking Granger." Draco mumbled, standing up slowly and moving silently across the kitchen floor. Everything was eerily quiet and sent goose bumps running over his arms. After stepping carefully through the doorway to the hall he turned and closed the door, its hinges moving silently until, with a soft _click_, it closed completely.

When he reached the door to his bedroom he saw with interest that the glowing names on each of their doors were different colours. Hermione's was a dark blue, almost black, with flickers of red rushing through it. Blaise's was a strange sort of purple, Theodore's was an interesting shade of orange and Draco's was predominantly the same colour blue as Hermione's. Looking closer, his fascination sparked from the extremely prominent glow in such lighting and he noticed that they were way too intricate to be mere lights. A fairly complicated bit of magic was clearly involved.

Shaking his head, Draco moved to his own room and opened the door, jumping when thunder and lightening shook the house. _Bloody hell. _He hated storms. Mostly the loud, house rocking, violent crashing that took place in the sky. He never failed to wake up and end up sitting, listening and wondering what would happen if a large variety of natural disasters destroyed his life, such as a tornado. There was something about storms that made a ball of unease expand in his stomach.

_Kind of like Granger. _He smirked a bit at that thought and sprawled out on his bed, staring at the ceiling. It was a strange sort of grey-ish blue from the limited light outside, the non-descript colour one might expect to find on a dreary building or a sidewalk.

Draco longed for some kind of imperfection to take notice of; a crack in the wall or ceiling to trace and take his mind off of the storm. But everything was new, and perfect, and the change from floor to wall to ceiling was faultless. Disappointed, he rolled on his side and stared across the empty room to the other side.

If it had just been Blaise, Theodore and himself on a t

eam he could have almost pretended that it was a normal summer day and they were over for the week or so. Hermione's presence acted as the one disrupting factor. It was like he was a forest and she was fire. _Except, of course, that after the fire, the forest grows again and its actually sort of beneficial, _he mused. He was terrible at comparisons. Especially those involving Hermione Granger.

The day slowly replayed through his mind, and it was just as he remembered Hermione cheering him on that he fell asleep, the storm outside forgotten.

-

-

The next morning Draco woke with a smile on his lips, however it was short lived when he noticed that it was still raining outside. And the power was still out. Grumbling he got out of bed and slipped into his slippers, scrunching his toes a few times in hopes of getting rid of the small chill that had just assaulted his feet. After finding that they didn't have running water he used magic to brush his teeth and washed his face – in the process he also succeeded in drenching himself. He combed his hair and walked down the hallway, taking brief note that the colours of the names on the doors had once again changed.

In the kitchen Theodore was sitting at the table, his head resting in his hands whilst Blaise sipped coffee and leaned against the counter. Surprisingly, neither was glaring hatefully at the other so he didn't comment, merely dropped into the chair across from Theodore. "What time is it?"

"10:30." Blaise said, running a hand through his dark hair. "I just talked to Sheila and James. They want us in the living room by 11."

"And you planned on waking me up when?" He asked irritably, wondering where Hermione was.

"After I finished my coffee." He replied with a grin, unbothered by his friend's annoyance. "You missed Hermione, by the way. Theo and I were just talking about her, actually."

"Were you." Draco rolled his eyes, "Back to 'Theo' are we?"

Theodore didn't even lift his head and merely said, sleepily, "Back to asshole, are we?"

Blaise laughed and set down his cup. "We don't have running water, so you can't shower."

"I noticed." He grimaced, "how did you make coffee?"

The dark skinned male pulled out his wand and twirled it around his fingers. "Its weird, I picked up this stick and sparks shot out. I think it might be magic…"

"Mhm." Draco stood up, "I'm going to get dressed. Is he actually awake?"

They both looked at Theodore and Blaise shrugged, "He just insulted you, so I'm guessing so. I'll get him up."

"It won't work. Sorry Blaise," Theodore raised his head and blinked, "I don't swing that way."

Draco snorted and left the room in case a fight broke out, though he had the feeling that Blaise was probably laughing. Getting dressed was a bit of a chore, since he didn't know what their challenge would be and had to consider all clothing options before choosing what he would wear. He didn't realize exactly how long he spent pondering it, though, until Hermione was banging on his door and urgently telling him to hurry up. She also felt the need to inform him that nothing he could do would make him less ugly, so he shouldn't try.

"That was hurtful." He said piteously.

"I'm sure you know a lot about being hurtful." She glanced back over her shoulder briefly and continued into the kitchen, where their other teammates were chatting. Theodore had the same wide-eyed look he'd had when he arrived at the house, which gave Draco a pretty good indication of his mood.

"To the living room." Theodore exclaimed cheerily, wringing his hands together. "I wonder what our challenge will be!?"

Blaise shrugged, "The last one was pretty physical, so I doubt they'd make us do anything like that again."

"I should hope not!" Theodore's loud exclamation made Hermione start a bit and Draco bit his lip to keep from laughing. No doubt she would take it offensively and start throwing things at him. "Do you _realize_ how sore my muscles are?"

"Mine, too." Blaise rolled his shoulders to illustrate his point, adding a dramatic wince. "I spent, like, ten hours stretching this morning."

"I didn't." Draco smirked at them. "I just used my mother's cream and now I'm fine."

"Burn in hell." He got mutually hateful looks, though Theodore's had a bit of a delighted edge to it and lost its effect.

"Now, now, that wasn't very nice!" James was standing in their living room in the most ridiculously formal robes Draco had ever seen, complete with immense lace tufts and vibrant colour. He held large cards of what looked like Bristol board in his hands and 'The House of Hell' written on the back. Candles floated around the perimeter of the room, and two long tables were set up against the walls, three chairs at one and four at the other. There were purple dividers that divided the table up into segments, however Draco was pretty sure he could look over the top of them if he wanted to.

_Something tells me this is a muggle game. _Draco's thoughts mumbled in his mind, which he wisely didn't repeat aloud. Hermione obviously was not pleased with him, though he was pretty much over their conflict from the previous night. Theodore was shaking slightly from restrained energy and his arm brushed lightly back and forth across Draco's shoulder, irritating him so that he moved to the left and, incidentally, closer to Hermione.

She glanced at him, clearly surprised, and then turned quickly back to James, who'd begun speaking moments before. "-we'll ask you a question, and then you have to write down the answer you think is correct as it applies to them. For each person that gets the answer right you receive a point. There are no repercussions for wrong answer. Any questions?"

"Yeah, can you repeat all of that?" Theodore blinked rapidly a few times and shook his head. "That sort of flew over my head." He demonstrated by flailing out his right arm and in the process accidentally hit Blaise in the head.

"Ouch! You idiot!"

Draco turned to watch the two squabble, but found his attention drawn back to Hermione. "So this is basically a test to see how well we know each other?"

"Pretty much." James grinned, the bad lighting giving him a strangely creepy look. The random pools of lace that seemed to explode out of the seams all over him increased his appearance of insanity. "Now, the Pansy Pickers should be over here soon with Sheila…" He looked towards the door expectantly and stood there awkwardly, as though hopeful the other team would arrive that instant. "Well, in any case, I'll just sit down here. Now would be a good time to try and give each other as much information as possible or discuss strategy."

"Right." Blaise shook his head at Theodore, who'd been grinning manically at him and blabbering on about one thing or another. Draco sighed, closing his eyes briefly. Theodore in this mood wasn't dangerous, but he sure as hell could be annoying. "Come in closer. What are some random questions they might ask us?"

Hermione was close enough to Draco that her arm was touching his, the small air that slipped between them as she breathed a fission of warmth. For some odd reason he found that he didn't hold any of the desire to move away like he had with Theodore. That was strange.

"Where were you born?" Hermione asked, her brown eyes alight with challenge and intrigue. Draco immediately felt interest spark within him and he tried to think up questions.

"St. Mungos." The males all answered immediately and she grinned with a small blush.

"Oh, of course. I was born in Oxbridge." As she thought she bit her lip slightly, the traces of her white teeth just barely visible. She seemed to sense him looking and glanced over at him, brow furrowing for a moment, before looking back at the other two members of their group. For some reason Draco felt his face flushing with embarrassment and he guiltily looked towards Theodore, feeling like he'd done something wrong.

"Right, er, favourite animal?"

"Cats." Hermione answered immediately, as though she had a particular animal in mind.

"Snifflegyhaps." Theodore said nonchalantly and Draco frowned, wondering if they were even real. "They're pink. And sneaky. I like that."

"Mhm." Blaise paused thoughtfully, "Eagles."

"I sort of like lions." Draco answered truthfully, frowning when Theodore snorted. "They're very cool animals! It's not my fault they're also affiliated with Gryffindor."

"Draco," Theodore pressed a hand on his shoulder and stared at him mock seriously. "You need to calm down. Breathe in," he took an exaggerated deep breath and then exhaled noisily, "breathe out."

Draco shook his hand off his arm and scowled defensively, "Fine. What about…pet name?"

"Crookshanks." Hermione smiled, her teeth almost glowing in their semi darkened room.

"Alright, it looks like the Pansy Pickers have arrived!" With renewed energy James bounded back to his former position, Sheila at his side. Harry, Ron and Pansy shuffled in, their eyes quickly seeking out the other team. Draco noticed Hermione smile at them and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _Gryffindors. Always trying to reassure each other that they're liked._

"So, if we could have the Bloody Fuckers take this table and the Pansy Pickers on this one, that would be great." Sheila pointed out the teams' tables and they took seats. Draco noticed with interest that after they had sat down small rectangular white boards appeared in front of them with two markers and a small cloth.

A popping sort of noise permeated the air and then Theodore jauntily called out, "Haha, smell these markers! They make me feel _wooooozy_."

Hermione snorted from beside him and Draco lifted his head, tilting it slightly so he could glance over the divide between them. She was fingering the capped markers, looking thoughtful, and didn't seem to have noticed him. His eyes surveyed her face, before he realized James and Sheila were watching him pointedly with amused expressions and he hurriedly hunched down again, averting his eyes.

"Now, are both teams ready? You've got 30 seconds to answer each question." James surveyed them all, a grin forming on his face. "Everyone ready?"

Draco nodded, as it was apparent that they wouldn't begin until their hosts received confirmation of their preparedness. "First question is for the Bloody Fuckers. What is Hermione's favourite colour?"

Other than the curses he could hear from his left, the side Theodore was sitting at and probably still inhaling the markers, the only other thing he heard was the word _green. _Hermione hadn't actually said what her favourite colour was earlier, however he remembered the argument that had taken place at the beginning of the summer over the colour of all the stuff she'd received in her basket. He scribbled it down on the board and held it up. "That's time. Hold up your answers." James looked over their cards. "Point to Draco and Blaise. Next question: How long have Draco and Blaise known each other?"

Draco smirked and quickly wrote down the _10 years_ on his whiteboard, lazily holding it up in his right hand. "Alright…point to Hermione, point to Theodore."

Draco's eyebrows shot up. _How did she know its been 10 years? Lucky guess? _He looked over the divide again and watched as she wiped off the words with a pleased smile.

"Next question: What colour are Hermione's eyes?"

Draco rolled his eyes. If all the questions were like this they would definitely win. He wrote down the answer _brown _and held up his board. Sheila looked over them with a smile. "Point to Draco for the answer brown."

He frowned. How had Theodore and Blaise not noticed the warm chocolate colour of Hermione's eyes? Was it strange that he knew what colour they were?

James then proceeded to ask the Pansy Pickers a question and they got no points. Draco wondered how it was fair that they had three people who could potentially get points, however the Pansy Pickers only had two, as obviously the person who the question was about couldn't receive a point. His question was answered later when Harry was given two points for correctly guessing Ron's favourite colour. Rolling his eyes he briefly wondered why they would choose someone of such limited intelligence to be their only real hope at winning.

"What is Draco's natural hair colour?" Draco felt a moment's outrage at Sheila's question and the implication that his hair wasn't _naturally_ blond, but he calmed himself by reminding himself that people didn't think perfection like his hair could ever actually be achieved. "And time's up!"

She read their answers, "Point to Hermione for blond, point to Blaise…er, Theodore, bald isn't a hair colour."

Draco glared at his white board and rolled his eyes. "Theodore, put the markers down and go try to grow some brain cells."

"Boys, be good now." James said in a sing song voice. "You may need to think hard for this one. Here it is," he paused dramatically for effect, "Who, on your team, is the most insecure?"

Draco paused, frowning slightly. There weren't supposed to be questions like _this_. They were supposed to be stupid questions about insignificant things like favourite colours and pets. He hesitated with the marker poised on the cleaned slate, thinking. Theodore had always been extremely insecure about relationships, but Blaise also had issues with himself. And Hermione, well, he suspected it was safe to rule her out. And also himself. He didn't have issues.

_Theodore or Blaise. Blaise or Theodore. Can I put both? _He bit his lip, thinking. "Time's up!" Hurriedly he scribbled down _Theodore_ as, in his current mood, he doubted the other male would really care.

"So we have a Theodore from Hermione, Draco and Blaise…And a heart from Theodore." Sheila paused and gave him a wary once over.

"It's to represent the human heart." He said dramatically and a loud thump was heard, followed by a curse. Draco suspected he'd thrown his arm out and hit it on a divider. "The heart is the most insecure of all!"

"Thanks for that insight, Theodore." James said, stepping closer. "Er, next question for the Pansy Pickers…What is Pansy's biggest fear?"

Draco traced the faint marker he could still see on the whiteboard, even though he'd wiped it off, and wondered why they hadn't given points for the last question. "Time! So we have 'being alone' from Harry and 'heights' from Ron. Nice. Can you tell me Harry's biggest fear?"

Draco noticed Hermione tense, though he firmly told himself he hadn't been craning his neck to see her, and wondered what the problem was. _Oh. _Draco realized with a start, _Potter's got a lot of enemies who could use this information._

"Time! So we have girls from Pansy," Sheila laughed, "And…heights from Ron. You do realize he plays Quidditch, right Ron?"

Hermione smiled and Draco found, with surprise, that Ron had very obviously just made himself look stupid to cover up his knowledge of Harry's fear. _Well, I suppose he's loyal. _He admitted grudgingly, rolling the black marker over on his table's surface.

"Er, right. Forgot." Ron muttered and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Now, this question is for all of you!" Sheila's smile seemed permanently fixed on her face. It never faltered, which was a bit weird. "Describe each of your teammates using only one word!"

Draco frowned. These questions were not what he anticipated. How did one even get points for them? It didn't make sense. He frowned at his white board and wrote each of teammates' names and a dash, thinking. He didn't want to use the words that he knew described his friends, because it would reveal more about them than he knew they wanted revealed. Instead he considered what people already knew. Theodore's most obvious feature was clearly his sarcastic edge and sporadic mood swings, so he picked the obvious of the two and wrote _sarcastic_. For Blaise he decided on _musical _and then hesitated, struggling to come up with something to describe Hermione with. He had a sudden recollection of her annoyance with him at the moment, due to the previous night, and so he realized she would probably write something scathing about him.

_Ignorant. _He finally wrote, wondering how insulting her own words about him would be. They would probably be something stupid, like _cold _or _arrogant. _Words that he was sure she'd identified him with in their First Year and never bothered trying to change.

"That's time! Blaise, can you give us your answers?"

There was a short silence, and then Blaise spoke. "I've got proud for Draco, hyper for Theo and intelligent for Hermione."

Draco couldn't refrain from grinning. _Proud _was most certainly one of the nicer ways of describing him. Blaise seemed to have taken the same route as Draco and chosen obvious words that the people watching the show could deduce on their own. "Great. And Theodore?" Sheila's voice interrupted his musings and dragged him back to the present. "Shall we hear your word choices?"

"Sure," Theodore said, pronouncing it more as 'shoe-aaaaah' than any real word. "For Draco I put sad, for Blaise I put hurt and for Granger I put afraid."

"I see. And these are just general statements?" James asked, a slight crease forming in his brow. "Or are they in regards to something in particular?"

"Love." Theodore said sagely, "Love. Always in regards to love."

"Ah," Sheila looked at her husband with a smile, "Right. Draco, can you share your answers?"

"Yeah. Theodore is sarcastic, Blaise is musical and Hermione is ignorant." A small silence followed his statement in which he saw their host and hostess glance quickly at each other, before back at him. Draco also thought he heard a sharp intake of breath from the right, which he promptly denied and pretended he hadn't heard.

"Well, that was pretty clear." James said cheerfully, no doubt pleased that something the slightest bit dramatic had taken place. "Hermione, your responses?"

"For Theodore I wrote hiding, for Blaise I wrote talented and for Malfoy," she paused briefly, her voice shaking slightly with what Draco was quite sure was anger, "I wrote misjudged."

_Oh fuck. _He looked morosely at the ceiling, wishing he could hit his head off the table. _Well, that was pretty much the worst idea I've ever had._

"Mhm, so what do we have for a score right now?" James turned pointedly to Sheila, who smiled indulgently at him.

"Well, we've got 26 for the Pansy Pickers and…oh my," she looked dramatically around at them, disappointed by their clear lack of enthusiasm. "It seems we have a tie! The Bloody Fuckers have the same score!"

"Tie breaking question, then!" James beamed happily, consulting the large squares he held in his hands. "Mhhmmm, Sheila, would you care to help me find the tie breaking question?"

"Sure, James." The two huddled together and whispered, sorting through the cards and casting the teams before them gleeful looks. "Aha, at last!" She cleared her throat and straightened up, pausing, "What is the favourite food of all members in your group?"

Draco paused. He knew for a fact that Theodore loved chocolate truffles and Blaise adored pasta with spicy red sauces, but he wasn't quite sure about Hermione. _Think_…_What have I seen her eating? _His mind presented flashes of her eating popcorn, apples, bananas, strawberries, mangos – A lot of fruit, in other words. He could also vaguely recall her commenting on her love for salmon and cookies, and also… _Damn it. I don't know._

"That's time!" Sheila called out, at the same instant Draco remembered Hermione claiming that "garlic was simply amazing" and he scribbled down "anything with garlic in it."

"Alright…wow, three points to Draco, two to Theodore, two to Hermione and one to Blaise." _Really? _He was shocked and happy at the same time. "So that's nine points to the Bloody Fuckers…point to Ron, two points to Harry, doubled is four and one point to Pansy. Seven points to the Pansy Pickers. So, with scores of 35 to 33 the Bloody Fuckers win the How-Well-Do-You-Know-Your-Team challenge!"

"Luckily," James continued effortlessly, "This is a good challenge to lose! Your team clearly needs some work on its bonds, so we're sending you on a three day trip to a top secret location!"

"What?" Draco heard Ron's voice ring through the room and rolled his eyes in annoyance at the unfairness of their situation.

"We're sending you to a special team bonding activity! So pack your bags with enough clothes to last you two nights. You've got…" Sheila looked seriously her watch and Draco was forced to wonder shortly if she knew how to tell the time. "You've got fifteen minutes! Go!"

The other team scrambled through the door, Ron with a last sheepish smile at Hermione as he waved. Draco felt prickles of irritation tingle through him and he glared at the retreating backs of the Pansy Pickers. He didn't understand why she put up with him at _all_.

"Now," James began after the door had closed, the contemplative expression on his face even more comical because of the ruffled robes he wore, "We're giving you a special prize! The four of you are being treated to a private dinner…that will not be supervised by cameras. Two hours of non publicized chatter!"

Draco noticed Hermione start to beam, which was strange because he hadn't even been looking at her on purpose, and he felt himself begin to smile as well. Not having to constantly worry that one change of expression – one bat of an eye, really – would reveal more about him than he wanted revealed. It would be _heavenly_.

"Sweet." Theodore said, holding onto his marker with a pleased smile. "So can we go?"

"Yep." James grinned at them and winked at Draco, who didn't know how to respond and merely looked away. "You've two hours to get yourselves together. Use your time wisely! Oh, and guys, dress classy. And muggle."

Their team stood up at the same time, which provided Draco with an excellent opportunity to _not_ look at Hermione. Unfortunately, it seemed she was intent on seeking him out and giving him a very intense stare that, while it was cold, was most certainly very Gryffindor-ish and he would have rolled his eyes, had they not been locked with her own.

"Lonely." She finally said, the tone of voice telling him she was trying to sound distant and icy, but really he could still hear undertones of the warmth that was always in her voice, no matter who she spoke to. "That's the word I would use to describe you."

Normally, when Hermione said something insulting or teasing and overall just witty he had a comeback within seconds that would sting her back, but at the moment he was at a complete loss for words and just opened his mouth slightly, expecting a retort to form and then feeling shocked when it didn't. "I-" He floundered for a moment and she turned away, shaking her head, and walked through the doorway.

Theodore was snickering beside him and he gave Draco a lopsided, amused smile. "She's the only person I've ever met who can shut you up like that and then leave, profound echoes of her words floating around in the room!"

"That was awfully poetic for someone high on markers." Blaise remarked, shrugging at Draco as if to say "what can you do?" "When is our power going to come back?" He asked, addressing Sheila and James.

"Mmm, yes. We're not sure, we've had a few technical difficulties. With power." Sheila said, attempting nonchalance and only succeeding at annoyed. "It should be fixed within the end of the day."

"I like it," announced Theodore, "It's all dark and creepy, like Hogwarts!"

Draco wasn't paying enough attention to catch what Blaise said in response, as he'd been struggling to find any word that described Hermione and was shocked when the only thing he could think of was _amazing._

That was sort of a problem.

-

-

The lights flickered on just ask Draco's team stepped outside. Their familiar black car was waiting for them, however when they got inside it seemed that the back seat and been stretched around the perimeter of the back area, which had expanded, and the front part was blocked off. It provided him a more detailed look at what his companions were wearing.

They had all dressed very nicely, which of course was no surprise. Theodore and Blaise were both in muggle suits, as was Draco, however he had opted for one in grey, while they both wore black. Blaise's tie was light pink, Theodore's was white and Draco's was blue. Hermione was, quite honestly, _stunning_. She'd forgone a dress in favour of a modest black skirt that Draco couldn't decide was either swishy or form fitting, and a purple shirt that had a very loose and wide neckline, exposing her collarbone and resting perfectly on her outer shoulders. It also had some kind of detailing near the top, but he couldn't quite see what it was. Her shoes were ballet flats, which she seemed thrilled with and her hair was pulled up into a bun with a sparkly silver clip. He found his eyes straying to her neck more than once, which was slightly weird. He wondered if it was normal to have vampire-like traits. Maybe it was stress.

"Looks like we've got a driver." Theodore said cheerfully, hopping in. "Here Blaise, I saved you a seat." He spoke with an extremely high voice, patting the seat beside him and fluttering his eyelashes.

"Thank you," Blaise lowered his voice comically and sat down with a wink. Familiar with this sort of behavior Draco merely smiled and awkwardly shifted over when Hermione sat down next to him.

"You know…" She looked at him when he spoke, tilting her head a bit to the side. The two opposite them were chattering away, but Draco still felt like they were listening.

"I don't…think you're ignorant. I only said that because I thought you were going to say something nasty about me." He said it all very fast and stared at the floor, since it was easier than looking directly at her.

"Just because I'm annoyed with you doesn't mean you change as a person," she said quietly, "It just means I'm angry with you."

"Right…About that…" He started lamely, unsure if he could handle another apologetic statement. "I was…tired. I didn't mean to, you know, offend you."

"I understand." Hermione replied and he saw, from the corner of his eye, her fingers tracing lines over the seat. "I didn't-"

"Blaise is announcing!" Theodore suddenly called out, cutting Hermione off. Draco looked over to where the two sat with slight irritation. "He's being all secretive about something, so let's force it out of him!"

"I was going to wait until dinner, actually." Blaise rolled his eyes, "But I suppose now will do. I…I've got a recording contract."

"A what?"

"A recording contract. With the same people who do The Weird Sisters!" He was beaming at their shocked faces, "They came to that night when we were singing for the audience because they were in the area and they talked to me after and said I had great stage presence, and they wondered if I did my own stuff, which I said I did and then when we got back they contacted me and asked me to come and play for them and they said they liked it and wanted to sign me!"

"That was a run-on sentence." Theodore said with a nod, and then it seemed to hit him what his friend was talking about and a thrilled expression lit his face. "You're going to become a singer!?"

"I prefer musical artist, actually, but yeah. Basically!" Thinking back, Draco couldn't recall a time he'd seen Blaise look happier. Ever. "I've already got ideas for the first album, and I've got loads of songs and bits of songs and lyrics that I'm going to piece together, and it's going to be brilliant. It's kind of surreal, you know? I mean people wait for this kind of chance for years, and I didn't even think it was a possibility in my life, and now…it happened!"

"Wow. I didn't know you write music." Hermione sounded impressed.

"Yeah…I haven't been able to work much out lately, but I've been writing in that book you gave me like crazy." He said with a grin, "I don't really spread it around that much."

"Won't the public have access to your music, though?" She asked worriedly, "If it's on the show?"

"We've already worked out a deal with the producers." Blaise shook his head, "They get to have a small hand in promoting it and get a few clips or whatnot of the album's development, and then we get privacy from the show. As soon as I step into the studio it's just me."

"Wow, that's amazing." Hermione smiled at him and Draco nodded enthusiastically.

"And to think," Theodore began dramatically, wiping away a fake tear. "All those times I yelled at you for fooling around with your guitar, telling you just because you can't get any action doesn't mean you should turn to fondling musical instruments, and that one time I smashed it really you were going to become _this_!"

"_You smashed my guitar?_" Blaise looked a bit murderous. "You told me it was that stupid third year."

Draco remembered that, when they'd returned to their dormitory and Blaise's guitar seemed to have been jumped on a few times. Their friend had accused everyone in the general vicinity of doing it, at which point Theodore said he'd seen a third year Terry Prachett walking up these stairs. The poor boy was covered with boils for a week before they could get the charm that constantly replaced them off.

"I feel like by placing pressure on you, it helped develop your musical style," Theodore continued unhindered. "In fact, one could say I really created you."

"I can't believe that was you." Blaise shook his head, but his happy expression had returned and, overall, he didn't seem too bothered. Draco was sure that, had he even touched Blaise's guitar he would have been cursed, at least. But Theodore was an exception.

As their car pulled into a parking lot and they all climbed out, Draco experienced the strangest sensation of a new beginning. His eyes traveled over Theodore, who threw his arms around their shoulders and no doubt wrinkled all their clothes, to Hermione, who smiled uncertainly at their closeness, to Blaise, who was grinning and was no doubt thinking about what he'd just announced.

_How profound. _He couldn't help but smile at his inner sarcasm and was surprised when Hermione caught his eye. She looked thoughtful for a brief moment before she spoke in a measured voice, as if expecting his instant rejection. "So…friends, then?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "We're friends."

She smiled back, her face lighting up with happiness, and he felt a strange stirring within the confines of his stomach.

It actually was sort of profound.

**Author's Note: I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, or whatever holiday or not-holiday has happened wherever you are! In regards to the lateness I truly am sorry. I got a head start on this one and started replying to reviews saying it shouldn't be too long, since I'd started it already, and then…well, I refused to end the chapter without finishing the day in the story, since if every chapter isn't even a full day than this will be a monster of a fic, and then it turned into a monster of a chapter (23 pages). The ending isn't quite what I'd like, but it will do!**

**Hopefully you enjoyed! Happy New Year! **

**Review review review!**


	25. Dine With Me

**Author's Note (2011): I've posted a comedic Dramione one-shot titled Relaxation Yoga, if you're not yet aware. As well I started and finished a three part Bleo called Shattered, which is a bit romantically angsty and focuses a lot on characterization and emotion. I also finished The Initiation (35 chapters…done!) so if you haven't checked out any of these I'd love it if you did. ! **

**I am terribly sorry to both the people who have been waiting endlessly for this and to the people who have lost interest. I spent the last few years struggling with some personal issues, university applications and decision making, schoolwork, my job, etc. To those of you who are willing to continue reading, I thank you sincerely! To those of you who aren't, thanks for sticking around this far. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Mean Girls, The Grudge, etc. There's a slight twist on a sentence from Bride Wars, props if you catch it. I don't own it, either.**

Hermione lay out on a blanket in the sun, her toes hanging slightly off the edge, tickled by blades of grass. Harry, Ron, Draco and Blaise darted around in the air, their clothing blurs of colour against the soft blue of the sky. The quartet got along most when on broomsticks and she enjoyed absorbing some of the sunlight, so she'd brought a book out with her. Sunglasses propped on the top of her head she leaned back with a sigh, a content smile dancing across her lips.

Their team had had a small meeting the previous day to discuss the ways they could try and help Hermione get over her fear of water and, while she knew the chances of them succeeding without any legitimate assistance was small, she felt optimistic about it. Draco had read a few books about late-in-life acquired phobias and they'd talked about how to work themselves up to large bodies of water, and isolating what the problem actually was.

Theodore dropped onto the ground beside her, lying straight down on the green grass. He nodded in her directly, dark hair falling over his forehead. Hermione smiled tentatively at him, trying to gage his mood. Of everyone in the house she felt most uneasy around Theodore and his fluctuating moods. Turning back to look at their housemates she slipped her sunglasses over her eyes, squinting even with their protection against the blazing sun.

Theodore snorted and, shaking his head, began to liberally apply sunscreen to himself.

"Hmm?" She glanced over at him and propped herself up onto her elbows.

"It's really no wonder people buy into all this bullocks about you two being in love," Theodore said, pushing back his hair to cover his forehead. "The way you two get on."

She shook her head, debating whether or not to feign ignorance. "I think people see what they want to see and spend way too much time worrying about the lives of people they don't even know. It's silly, really."

"No, what's silly is all your fighting." He quirked a smirk in her direction that she was fairly certain was friendly.

"You and Blaise argue all the time, but you're still best friends." Hermione pointed out, closing her eyes.

"So do you and Weasley." Theodore countered, cursing when a particularly big dollop of liquid missed his arm and instead hit the grass.

"Not really." She shook her head and, after he snorted, added, "We do quarrel a bit, but its harmless. I don't think I've ever seen people fight as dirtily as you and Blaise and stay friends through it all."

"We do not." He scoffed and opened the book he'd brought along with him and pulled out some parchment. "Besides, it's not like you can even judge relationships based on actions."

"Why not?"

Theodore shot her a mildly annoyed and disbelieving look. "Actions rarely have anything to do with actual emotions, if you think about it." He rolled his eyes, as if it was all incredibly obvious. "It's all about what people want other people to see. Merlin, what do Gryffindors learn in school?"

"Bravery and trust in humankind?" She suggested and Theodore looked so disgusted she wasn't surprised he didn't say anything about it.

"Do you have a quill? I have to write a letter." He held out his hand expectantly and she gave him a pen instead, which he seemed to figure out quickly enough and set about writing.

It wasn't for a while that he finished and when he did he issued a loud sigh, folding up the parchment. "_Finally._ I hate writing letters. Such tedious work." He leaned back, staring up at their friends for a moment in silence. "When Blaise flies he does a lot of frilly loops, and the like. He's so bent it's a bloody miracle he can walk straight."

"Ron flails his arms," Hermione said without looking up. "And Harry squints."

"What for, he's got glasses hasn't he?" Theodore idly ran his hand through the grass, thin fingers tracing over the green blades. "You know, one time in our second year Draco tried out glasses. He told us all he thought his eyesight was going, but we knew it was because he wanted to be like Potter."

"Really? What happened?" Marking the page with her finger she closed the book and watched him with interest, trying to recall if she'd ever seen Draco wearing glasses in their second year.

"He borrowed them off this kid who was blind as a fucking bat, so he kept walking into things and never made it from the Common Room." Theodore sniggered, his eyes following the progress of Blaise's broom in the air. "What a wanker."

Hermione's phone buzzed and she frowned, feeling around for it on the blanket. Lifting it to her ear, she heard a robotic sort of voice.

'_House Guests, please meet Sheila and James in the kitchen immediately for your next challenge.'_

Theodore nodded briskly and took out his wand with his left hand. While he waved it and threw red sparks in the air, drawing the attention of the four flying boys, Hermione noticed something looping around his hand and leaned forward with interest. "What's that?"

He looked down and shrugged. "A tattoo." Reaching out without hesitation she took his hand and stared. Two thorny stems wrapped themselves around his hand, occasionally twisting with what could only be the influence of magic. On the palm of his hand, halfway between his thumb and forefinger was a single rose. The entire design was in black, which most likely explained why she'd never seen it before.

"It's beautiful." She murmured, fascinated. "I never noticed it before!"

Theodore shrugged and awkwardly tugged his hand out of her grasp. "Yeah, well. I got in last summer. I don't try to flaunt it, which _some_ people like to do."

"What's wrong?" Blaise landed beside them, reaching out for Theodore's hand with concern.

"We're being called in," Theodore said slowly, frowning while Blaise flipped his hand over. "Why are you holding my hand? We've been through this, Blaise. I just don't feel that way about you."

Blaise rolled his eyes and dropped his hand, muttering something that sounded like "in your dreams."

"Granger was looking at it," Draco answered, shouldering his broom. "We thought maybe you'd chopped it off or something."

"Er, no." She said, looking around at them all. Ron was watching Blaise with interest and Harry was fiddling with the snitch in his hands, which the show had happily presented him with. "We have to meet in the kitchen."

Hermione gathered up her belongings and looked at Theodore as the group started back to the house. "Do you have my pen?"

"Oh, right." The Slytherin pulled it out of his pocket, in the process also tugging out a little bag and sending it shooting over the ground. Hermione watched in genuine astonishment as Theodore literally threw himself to the ground after it, shielding it from view with his body. Ignoring the looks of surprise and confusion he was receiving the male merely stuffed both hands into his pockets and carried on walking ahead of them, the pen forgotten.

"That was weird." Ron commented idly, staring at their companion's back as his hurried stride took him farther ahead.

"Yeah, it was." Blaise muttered under his breath, glaring fiercely. "Really weird."

* * *

"In three days, each of you will cook four different dishes—a dessert, main course, appetizer and side, each for a different member of your own team. You'll draw the names from a hat, and each of you will be provided with one of these cookbooks," James held up a large book entitled _Recipes for the Culinary Handicapped_ and showed it to them all.

They'd all gathered around the kitchen table, which had eight small boxes with holes in the top resting on it. A stack of the cookbooks sat beside Sheila, the light reflecting off the glossy cover of the one on top. Reactions to the challenge were mixed. Ron and Blaise looked dismayed, Pansy and Draco had the expressions of people who'd just been told their NEWTs were tomorrow , Theodore didn't seem to be paying attention and Harry looked a bit pleased.

"Inside each book there are more than enough recipes for you all to find one. You have to pick the recipe you feel that the person you're cooking for will like the most." Sheila said with a beam, "And they will score each dish out of 10 on taste and preference. There will be one winner on each team, and the two will spend a day off camera in a hotel a few hours away from here."

A wave of interest rolled through the teenagers gathered there, all of whom were eager for the chance to get away from the cameras for a day. "We'll draw names in just a moment. You cannot reveal the name of the person you picked or that dish will be considered an automatic forfeit. Your recipes need to be selected by 10:00 tomorrow morning."

"Also, we'll be taking you to a grocery store the morning of the challenge so you can all pick up your ingredients. Any questions?" James asked pleasantly, and then waved his wand. The names of each course appeared on the boxes before him and he gestured at Hermione. "Hermione, why don't you pick first for your team?"

She moved forward to the appetizer box, tucking her hair behind her left ear, and reached into it, closing her fingers around a small piece of paper. _Theodore._ Moving down the table, she picked Blaise for the main course, Blaise for the side dish, and Draco for the dessert. Satisfied with her choices she crunched them up in her hand and accepted the book Sheila passed her. One by one the Bloody Fuckers selected names and the Pansy Pickers followed, selecting from a different set of boxes.

Harry frowned when he selected one of his papers and brought it to James, who appeared quite delighted. Ignoring the irritated look Sheila shot in his direction he launched into an explanation.

"Ah, yes! The guest! Because your team doesn't have even numbers we've had to bring someone else into the challenge to stand in as a substitute. You will all be paired off so you have a companion while you eat."

"Is that it?" Pansy asked, already flipping through the pages of the book.

"Yup. Happy planning!" The two gave a jaunty wave and vanished the boxes, before James took his wife's hand and left, humming 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight.'

"Nobody look at my papers!" Theodore said loudly and Hermione jumped in surprise. "Excuse me!" Glaring suspiciously he clutched his book to his chest and left the room, barrelling down the hallway.

"Ron, aren't you going to be late for your date?" Harry asked, checking his watch.

"Weasley has a _date_?" Draco looked disgusted while Ron swore, hurrying through the door opposite them with little more than an offhanded wave.

"With that muggle girl," Pansy said and smiled at them as she and Harry pulled away from the group in the direction of their part of the house. "We'll see you later."

"Oh, Harry, Pansy!" Hermione called out as Blaise and Draco began to walk into the living room. "I think we're going to watch a film tonight, you should join us."

"A film?" Blaise's voice asked as he and Draco left the room, the door swinging shut and blocking out Draco's response.

Harry shrugged, "As long as it's not one of those teen romances."

"Probably not with this many boys in the house." Hermione said, shaking her head. "We'll have to vote or something."

"Okay, as long as it's not something scary!" Pansy beamed and waltzed out the door, humming something under her breath that Hermione couldn't quite make out.

* * *

"The Grudge it is!" Blaise announced, fumbling with the case in front of him and peering interestedly at the disk inside.

"I can't believe you all voted for it!" Hermione shot a betrayed look at her teammates, who grinned back at her. "Look at the cover! Look at that girl's face! And the hair!"

"That's what Draco looks like when he wakes up," Theodore rolled his eyes. "You get used to it after awhile."

"So, it's not _that_ scary, is it?" Pansy asked, twisting a strand of hair around her fingers as she eyed the cover photo.

"Er, well, apparently not." Harry coughed awkwardly, "I mean, according to my cousin it's not scary at all."

Ron stood up and mumbled something nearly incoherent about drinks, heading to the kitchen. Hermione jumped to her feet and followed him, rifling around in the glossy cupboards for movie friendly snacks. As she was pulling the popcorn from the microwave and dumped it into bowls she'd set on the counter, she turned to Ron. "How was your date?"

His ears a bit red Ron shrugged, "Went well, I think."

"Not going to give me any details?" She asked him with a smile, lifting the bowls. "That's fine, that's fine. I'll just ask Andrea about it later."

"Why? Has she said anything?" Ron's worried voice followed her out of the kitchen and she laughingly assured him of the fact that no, Andrea hadn't revealed any secret details to her.

Theodore accepted one of the bowls from her and took Blaise's arm, tugging him onto the couch closest to them. Ron sat next to Pansy, who was holding a pillow to her chest protectively. Harry and Draco were sitting on opposite sides of the three person couch and Hermione sat between them, popcorn balanced on her lap.

She'd spent the whole afternoon pouring through her cookbook to find her choices for the dishes she was cooking. She made a list for each person and dish and figured out which required the least amount of time but she also thought the person would like. Then she'd drawn up a chart and colour coded it.

In the end she'd decided that for Theodore's appetizer she would make zucchini cheese garlic appetizer, as the picture was mouth watering and she wasn't quite positive what he liked to eat, other than perhaps chocolate. She'd drawn Blaise for main course and side, so she'd chosen spicy chipotle lasagne and honey ginger carrots, as she knew he liked spicy things. For Draco's desert she'd picked a meringue cake lathered with whipped cream and berries.

It was going to take awhile to get it all ready but she figured she could make the meringue in the morning and let it chill, and then the lasagne and the other two dishes wouldn't take very long. The biggest problem would be making it right.

As the credits rolled onto the screen Theodore devoured popcorn, his chewing the only noise in the room. There seemed to be a tension rolling through them. Ron said rigid while Pansy barely moved an inch, arms crossed over her chest. Hermione could feel the heat from Draco's body to her left while Harry barely blinked to her right. The only people who seemed even slightly relaxed were Theodore, who animatedly gasped during the opening scene and muttered "don't go up there don't go up there," and Blaise, who sat cross legged beside him.

It wasn't for at least twenty minutes before Draco relaxed beside her. Pansy had started keeping her hands over her eyes, peering through them warily while Ron simply squinted so hard he could have had his eyes closed anyway. As the movie progressed Theodore had taken to watching with fascination and saying things like "it's in the building! On the camera! You can run but you can't hide!" and hiding his face in Blaise's neck.

"I'm never using blankets again!" Hermione exclaimed, horrified and turned from the screen just as the grudge's face appeared on the screen. "I'm never sleeping! Or answering the door!"

By the time they got to the end, where the murder of the wife and son was acted out, Hermione had covered her face permanently, separating her fingers on one hand so she could peer through and get the gist of what happened.

"Holy _fuck_," Theodore exclaimed as the twisted body of the grudge slid down the stairs, and he turned his head into Blaise, who was watching the movie with interest and didn't seem bothered by it. Ron muttered something under his breath that made Pansy laugh, and Harry grimaced as the house burned down.

As the credits began to roll they sat in silence, until Hermione stood up and turned the television off. "I will never trust your judgment of what is and isn't scary again." Pansy concluded, and a flurry of action followed her words as everyone stood up and stretched.

Hermione yawned into her elbow, blinking drowsily. "I think I'm heading to bed."

"I don't think I can sleep after _that_," Pansy muttered, looking over her shoulder as if she expected the grudge to be behind her.

"Don't worry, Pansy, I'm sure Weasley will protect you," Theodore said with a sly grin and waggled his eyebrows at her. Pansy rolled her eyes, but accepted his proffered hug anyway.

"Just like I will protect Theo," Blaise announced and threw an arm around Theodore and Pansy's shoulders.

"I don't trust you to protect me," Theodore said with a straight face. "I'd prefer if Draco did it."

"I can't, I'll be too busy saving Granger." Draco replied as he gathered the bowls up.

"No, I'll be saving you while you cower in fear." Hermione shook her head, applying some chap stick.

"I think all that popcorn has made you delusional," Draco replied, gesturing vaguely at her head. "And probably made your hair grow, too. It's looking remarkably crazy today."

"That's because it's full of secrets." She said with a laugh, coughing when no one understood the reference. "Right. Well, goodnight everyone."

As she passed by Draco reached out and ran his hand from her shoulder to elbow softly, just the barest brush of fingertips. She smiled at him, ducking her head, which was an acceptable response. The silly part didn't come until later, when she spent twenty minutes lying awake, reliving the touch over and over.

* * *

Hermione woke early the next morning and she sat up slowly, blearily surveying her bedroom. The frame on one of her shelves was showing a picture from just after Theodore had arrived at the House and had his arms wrapped tightly around Draco and Blaise, while Hermione was visible in the corner looking somewhat deranged with joy.

She watched a few of the photo changes, smiling when the next one was of Harry and Ron laughing together. Seeing them so carefree was a luxury that she fully intended to enjoy, especially because she expected eliminations to begin in a week or two.

After handing in her planned recipes and receiving the go ahead she wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, staring at the rows of food. A small bang attracted her attention after at least a minute of mindless staring and she looked up in surprise as Theodore came in the door, mumbling about baking.

"You're baking today?" She asked in surprise, letting the weighted door swing shut and retying the cord on her pyjama shorts.

"What? What are you saying? What are you talking about?" His eyes widened and, after her mouth fell open slightly, his lips relaxed into a small smile. "Yes, baking. With flour, probably."

Hermione opened the fridge door, surveying its contents once more, before looking up at him. "Mind if I join you?"

"I'm not sure that's advisable," he said with a smirk and began to rifle around in a cupboard, pulling out a cookbook. "I know you don't like to feel inferior to people, and I'm afraid my kitchen prowess will be quite overwhelming."

"Really?" She asked, peering over his shoulder as he began to flip through the pages of one of the books. "So what are you making?"

"Mm, not sure. Perhaps a nice little flambé . I might whip _that_ into shape, you know, if it's not too easy." He gestured at a decadent looking cheesecake topped with raspberries, before continuing in his perusal. "So, tell me," he peered at the page and then turned to look at her. "What exactly does 'boil' mean?"

She stared at him for a long moment. "When you put things in boiling water."

"Like in a bowl?" Theodore looked regretfully at where his wand protruded from his pocket. "I suppose I'd need to learn a strong heating charm, yeah?"

"Don't be daft, Theo." Blaise strode into the room, a book tucked under his arm. "You use a pot, and boil it on the stove. It's practically potions."

"I don't know how to cook," Theodore said back, a blank expression on his face. "That's what house elves are for."

Hermione made low noise in her throat. "Well, I think it's excellent that Blaise has taken it upon himself to learn to be independent from house elves, and to free them-"

"He only knows how to cook because he spent a summer trying to piss his mother off by doing everything she hates." Theodore said with a smirk, which turned into a grin when Blaise frowned at him..

Hoping to avoid hearing another argument she hurried on. "If you want I can show you how? I'm not fantastic at it, but I can try my best to help you out."

"I've heard that one before," Draco snickered as he breezed into the room, heading for the coffee and pouring himself some.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Malfoy, do _you_ know how to cook?"

"Define 'cooking.'" He said, taking a sip with his eyes closed. "I can throw some vegetables in the pot, if that's what you mean. It can't be that hard. Muggles can do it."

"Granger's going to show us how to do it." Theodore told him, pretending not to notice the way Hermione's nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. "You should probably stay, if you have any wish to win the challenge."

"Fine. Then we can work on your water thing." Draco assented, opening the bread box and rifling his hand around inside it. "I'm sure it will be easy to pick up, at any rate."

* * *

It had been a matter of minutes before Theodore spilled something. Within an hour a variety of baking ingredients had been splattered over the walls and floor, a cacophony of flour, sugar, eggs and she thought she could make out tomatoes mixed in, as well. Two hours into their baking and cooking extravaganza Theodore's face was covered in white and every time he shook his head, which he did increasingly often purely from amusement, sugar and pepper fell from his hair. Blaise had taken to lounging on the counter, legs crossed, while the rest of his team stumbled around the ravaged kitchen as Hermione attempted to show the pair how to perform a variety of tasks based on previous experience and pure guesswork.

"You can use this button to chop up vegetables without turning them into a paste," she explained as she pointed to the food processor. "Or if you want them very fine, you'd press this one. Since we're making bruschetta, we'll do the pulse setting to chop, I suppose."

Theodore watched with fascination as the machine began to work. When Hermione moved to check the brownies in the oven he slipped closer, noticing with interest the speed button on the side. He glanced over his shoulder, but Draco had followed Hermione and only Blaise was watching him, amusement dripping from the smile curving his lips. Pressing a finger to his lips he hit the up arrow, grinning as the machine whirred harder. It was difficult to see from the sides so he lifted the lid, peering into the top.

"Theodore, STO-" Streams of red shot from the top of the food processor and into his open eyes. Cringing away he shut them, scrabbling for the stop button while simultaneously trying to end the burning that was _gnawing _away at his eyeballs.

"You prick!" Draco yelled as the liquid continued to spray everywhere, no doubt into his blond hair. "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

"I'm trying!" He shouted back, slipping on the floor and abandoning stopping the machine in favour of trying to prevent himself from falling. A hand snatched his arm, hauling him back to his proper balance, and the whirring noises in the background stopped.

"Thank god," Hermione sighed, her voice still across the kitchen. "Remember the conversation about the blender? You _have_ to leave the lid on! _Have to_!"

"It's in his eyes," Blaise's voice came from beside him. "Come to the sink."

He stopped his stream of rather inventive curses and stumbled blindly after his friend, guided only by the hand on his arm. The tap cut on and a cloth of some kind started scrubbing at his eyes. "Kinda rough," he muttered, flinching back.

"Don't be a baby." Blaise replied in the tone he used that was often accompanied by eye rolling. The rubbing continued, but was considerably gentler. Draco and Hermione could be heard shuffling around the kitchen, trading the occasional insult and jab at each other's selection of friends. "Open your eyes."

Theodore let his eyes flutter open, squinting at first and then allowing them to open all the way. Blaise stared directly into his them, frowning. Theodore shifted and then blinked rapidly, turning away. "Well, that was a bit of a mistake!"

Hermione shot him a dirty look as she ran her fingers threw her hair, attempting to get out the remaining chunks of tomato. Theodore thought it a rather silly task, considering it was almost a paste anyway, and he told her so. Draco snickered.

"Here, Theodore. Why don't you make the frosting for the brownies. There are only a couple buttons, and I don't think you can mess it up." Hermione directed him to the counter and he reached out, flicking some red paste from her shoulder.

"I like that we're at a point in our relationship where you can say hurtful things, but I know that you say them with deep affection." He beamed at her and she shook her head in response, returning to the counter with a cloth.

"I think you need more sleep, Theodore. Sleep deprivation and cooking isn't really a good combination." She made a half-hearted attempt at cleaning up the mess, before tossing the cloth aside.

"And your eyes are so bloodshot I can see them from over here." Draco added, lazily stirring what Hermione had insisted would turn out looking like soup but looked more like green sludge.

"I don't...like sleeping." Theodore paused, thinking over what he'd said, and then busied himself measuring out icing sugar.

* * *

By the end of the day the males were considerably more optimistic about the upcoming challenge, and Hermione was exhausted. While all intelligent, the lack of practical muggle technology in their lives had left a severe gap in figuring out how to work the appliances, and in combination with the fact that they were all from wealthy pureblood families who had house elves to look after them, the closest experiences they had to baking and cooking was potions brewing.

The next morning the teams woke up at 5 AM to leave for the grocery stores by 5:30. Sheila and James thought it would be best if they went at an uncommon hour to avoid muggle interaction and lineups that would cut into the strict time restrictions that were in place. Hermione trooped into the kitchen, her list clutched in one hand and her bag hanging over her shoulder. Blaise and Theodore slumped on chairs, a blueberry muffin dangling in Theodore's fingertips. Draco stood next to the coffee maker, watching the drizzle of fresh coffee as it descended into the clear pot.

"Morning," she muttered, staring at the piles of containers and wrapped plates of food scattered throughout the room. Not only had they baked blueberry muffins, but also banana and zucchini. The chocolate and cream cheese frosting for the vanilla and carrot cupcakes was crushed against the clear wrapping covering the plates. Two pies, key lime and strawberry rhubarb, were still in their baking dishes and had just had dishtowels thrown over the top. What had been intended as triangular tea biscuits had ended up being rather unevenly shaped balls of what was likely too salty dough with random blobs of cheese spread unevenly throughout (no one had touched those yet).

Theodore merely groaned in response, his face pressed against the countertop. Blaise flicked his hand in her direction, and Draco glanced up and smiled at her. She made her way to the refrigerator and pushed aside the vinaigrettes they'd concocted and the varying shades of berry smoothies.

"Hey, guys," Ron stuck his head into their kitchen. "We're supposed to be leaving now, the cars are waiting."

Theodore groaned again without moving his face. Draco cast a forlorn look at the coffee and then considered the containers before him, deciding on the zucchini muffins, and reached his hand in. Ron's expression perked up. "Are those muffins?"

Theodore lifted his head. "My muffins."

"Do we have to go?" Blaise asked, staring at Hermione as if she had the power to make the decision.

"Yes, there are muffins. No, they're not all Theodore's. Yes, we have to go." Hermione held the container out to Ron, jerking her head towards the door. "Let's go, guys."

Ron took the container with a gleeful smile and disappeared out the door. Draco followed him slowly, grabbing Theodore's arm and dragging him along. Blaise sighed as he and Hermione made their way to the exit.

The car ride was short and Hermione made the most of it by going through her list and mentally categorizing which items would be in the same sections. They climbed out of the black cars when they reached the grocery store and were greeted by Sheila and James, who gave them their instructions again and then informed them that their time had begun.

Forty two minutes later the seven teenagers staggered out the doors, arms laden down with bags. Hermione was pretty sure the circulation in her left arm had been completely cut off by the handles of the three bags she had nestled in the crook of her elbow. Two more were pulling the fingers of her right hands in very painful positions and every few steps she had to hit her purse to keep it from twisting in her legs as she walked. Sheila and James beamed at them, despite the glares they got in return, and after all the groceries had been dumped in the back of the cars in isolated piles the group returned to the house.

"We'll have our people come and transport your purchases," James said dismissively as they climbed from the cars. "Because everything has to be done in isolation, we'll be taking you to a specifically designed site where you will each have full access to the kitchen for the entire day. You'll have to bring what you intend to wear for dinner, and something else you don't mind getting dirty."

Sheila winked at them. "You've got fifteen minutes to collect whatever you need, and then we'll be off."

"Really?" Pansy barked out as they hurried in through the door. "Why would a little advanced warning be so difficult?"

"It probably makes 'the viewers' happy, or something. Boosts the ratings," Ron said in a bitter voice, wrinkling his nose. Pansy's laughter was drowned out by the _click_ as the door shut behind them.

Hermione tore through her closet until she found a dress and then scurried around to collect shoes and whatever else she would likely need. Hoping that the word "dirty" hadn't been some kind of attempt at a coy reference to actual dirt she brought along a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt.

She left her room, noticing that the writing on their doors had all turned similar shades of bright yellow before she ran through the hallway, hoping that she hadn't exceeded the time limit. Inside the car, Theodore and Blaise sat next to Theodore, a guitar case resting against the seat beside him, while Draco was opposite them.

"What do you think we need clothes we can get dirty for?" Draco was asking, glancing up briefly when she climbed in and sat next to him.

"I can think of a few things," Blaise smirked, an eyebrow raised. Theodore snorted, craning his neck to look outside the window.

"I'm sure you can. Are we leaving yet? _Merlin_ this is taking forever."

"Oh, shut up, Theo. You're only annoyed because you misinterpreted the instructions and brought along your sparkly booty shorts."

"What the _hell_ are booty shorts?" Theodore broke his gaze away from the window long enough to give Blaise a look of disgust, which was met with one of such incredulity it was enough to make Hermione laugh.

"How can you not know what booty shorts are?" Blaise exclaimed, his eyes wide. "What kind of life do you lead?"

Draco rolled his eyes at Hermione, a smile twisting his lips up, as Theodore snapped something involving the lack of importance anything to do with booty had in his life. "I think Blaise is just confused because that's the most important thing to him."

"Hey! That was uncalled for!"

"They made a montage devoted to your sexual exploits," Hermione pointed out as the car began to move. "And it only included what happened on the show."

"I was under extreme stress," Blaise sniffed, "Different people have different methods of coping with duress. Mine is just…"

"Carnal?" Theodore suggested with a sly grin. "I think we've all noticed."

"This is ridiculous. I'm going to drown my sorrows-"

"In sex?"

"Shut _up_, Theo. Jesus, no, in music." Blaise paused, his eyes focussing on a point near the ceiling of the car. "Maybe I'll write a song about this car ride. It'll go something like this: unrequited sexual tension on a morning in a car, wishing for some reason on the last remaining star, hoping it will end so I can finally go to sleep, wishing I could kick my friends from this fucking jeep_."_

There was a brief moment of silence. "Wow. That was touching. Really, really touching. I'm sure your record company would be so proud of _that_." Theodore laughed loudly, tossing his head to the side so his hair wouldn't fall into his eyes. "Although calling out the sexual tension between us wasn't so cool. I'm embarrassed now."

"Everyone already knew. The way you lust after my body is a lot more obvious than you think." Blaise said with a look of mock seriousness on his face, before a smile broke out and he threw his head back with a laugh.

Hermione laughed, too, but she couldn't help but feel that the looks she and Draco were receiving from Theodore and Blaise were rather telling. She glanced down at the space between their bodies, a comfortable distance breached only by their hands, while rested close enough that with a bit of finger extension on both their parts they could make contact. Conscious of their teammates' scrutiny she thought it might be wise to tactfully withdraw her fingers slightly, but the thought of doing so made her stomach twist in a strange way, so instead she relaxed her arm and sat back against the seat.

If their hands brushed ever so slightly it wasn't even that important.

* * *

Blaise had anticipated that the ride to their destination might be long (Hermione and Draco both suspected that they were driving around in circles simply because Sheila and James were hoping for some kind of inner car drama) so he'd prepared by bringing a multitude of occupations. After he'd finished bickering with Theodore he'd pulled out his guitar and started playing Stop and Stare, until Hermione and Draco had managed to convince him that if he didn't stop they would cut his guitar in half, and he'd kept them amused by playing different songs and having them guess what they were called. When they got bored with that, which happened rather quickly when none of them could guess the songs, he'd pulled out his camera and started taking photographs of whatever caught his interest. More often than not his interest was caught by the people in the car with him, so they spent a considerable amount of time covering their faces and threatening to cut his camera in half. Hermione had explained the concept of arm wrestling to them, but the males quickly shot down that idea after she beat Blaise in the demonstration.

By the time they pulled into the parking lot of what appeared to be a rather old, crumbly warehouse, they were all eager to get out of the stiflingly small vehicle. Theodore was bouncing his legs up and down, running his hand through his hair repeatedly.

Sheila and James led them into the warehouse, which turned out to be a lot bigger on the inside than the outside seemed to indicate. A series of doors ran along two sides of a wide hallway with a maroon tiling on it, the names of each of the members of the teams written on the doors to the left.

"Ahem, so we have a bit of a challenge for you before you start your preparations." Sheila smiled and gripped her husband's hand, as if searching for some kind of anchor to prevent her from floating away in all her excitement. "We're going to pair you off, and each pair will get buckets of Martha's Magnificent Magic Paint. If you tap the lids of each bucket twice with your wands, the paint inside will become the colour you wish it to be."

"_However,_ once you do so you cannot change the colour inside. So decide carefully." James chuckled to himself. "Each pair will be in charge of one room, which you must decide on a colour design and then paint however little or much you desire. Then, Sheila and I will pick the winning room, and you'll get a prize."

"What is it?" Pansy asked, her head tilted to the side as she considered their words.

"A surprise!" Sheila exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Now, here we are. Partners are…Draco and Harry, Theodore and Ron, Pansy and Hermione, Blaise and…our guest! Come on out, guest!"

Seamus Finnegan walked into the room, a smile on his freckled face. His sandy blonde hair had grown longer than Hermione had ever seen it, just brushing over his eyebrows, and he was wearing a pair of jeans and navy turtleneck. Harry and Ron let out small roars and hugged him, while Hermione waved happily but remained with her group.

"Welcome, Seamus! So pleased you could make it out," Sheila smiled and shook his hand. "Everyone pleased stand with your partner and we'll get started!"

Each team was shown into a room that was entirely white. The lack of colour was almost blinding at first and Hermione had to squint to make out the white dining table and two chairs that rested in the very centre. Against one wall was a white couch, and a fireplace was just opposite it. Several cans of paint sat just inside the door.

"Erm, so we need some kind of plan. Any ideas?" Pansy glanced at her as the door closed, her eyes nearly shut.

"Here, hold on." Hermione pulled out her wand and waved it quickly in two sharp movements. Immediately the light in the room seemed to dim such that the white became bearable and both girls opened their eyes.

"Nice spellwork," the blonde said with a smile.

"Thanks." Hermione paused, her eyes running over the room. "Maybe we should make one of the cans brown—to colour the table, and maybe the couch. Another colour for the floor, and one for the walls?"

"I was thinking something like that, too." Tapping absentmindedly at her chin, Pansy nodded. "We should try and pick colour Sheila and James like, because they're picking the winners."

"Oh, right. Well royal blue, I think. A rich red, or a purple. That sort of thing seems to be their usual robe colour."

The Slytherin was nodding in agreement, her eyes running over the walls. "Alright, let's get to work."

* * *

"How about-"

"If you're about to suggest red or gold, you can stop right now." Blaise didn't look over, but he could practically see the disappointment flicking across Seamus's face.

"Or-"

"The same goes for Irish green."

"We could do-"

"Don't start on anything plebeian, like orange or purple, either." Blaise surveyed the white room before him, considering the couch, table, chairs and fireplace.

"Black?" Seamus suggested weakly, his one eyebrow raised enough that it disappeared beneath his hair.

"I hope you aren't assuming I like black for any superficial reason," Blaise said and turned with narrowed eyes on the Gryffindor. "That's terribly racist, Finnegan."

Colour blossomed on his companion's face. "You're being a pretentious prat!"

A grin flicked across Blaise's face. "There's no need to be rude, Finnegan. I was just being friendly." Before Seamus could speak, though the indignation in his expression was explanation enough of his thought process, he continued. "How about a dark, dark blue? Like the sky almost at midnight?"

"We could do the floor, walls and the ceiling that colour," Seamus nodded after a moment's pause, the struggle over whether or not to let it go playing across his freckled face. "It would almost be like floating in the sky at night, that sort of effect."

Blaise nodded thoughtfully. "I like where this partnership is going."

Seamus frowned. "Exactly where do you think this partnership is going?"

The Slytherin laughed out loud, surprising Seamus. Reaching over, he patted the other male's cheek twice in a gesture that would be repeated many times in the months following by Seamus's friends. "Nothing like _that_, Finnegan. I don't do freckles."

* * *

"Rainbow?" Ron grimaced, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed. "I don't think rainbow can really be classified as a colour."

"Shall we test that theory out, Weasley? Witness the power of my imagination." Theodore pulled out his wand and strode to the four buckets. Tapping his wand twice on the top of one he closed his eyes and, though completely unnecessary, held his breath.

Ron watched, unimpressed. "You'll have to open the can to check. It's not just going to pop out, you know."

"I'm _aware_, thanks. I don't know how Granger stands you and your simpleton comments." Theodore muttered, quiet enough that Ron figured he wasn't supposed to hear, but loud enough that he did anyway.

"I don't know how she stands you and your bizarre mood swings," Ron fired, peering into the bucket as Theodore pried off the lid. "Oh my Merlin."

"Actually, Granger and I have a relationship deeply rooted in a deep rooted affection that some have described as deeply sexual," Theodore said with a snicker and looked with delight into the bucket as a rainbow of shades flickered across the paint's surface. "Perfect."

"This is…" Ron trailed off, lips pulled back in a horrified grimace.

"Splendid? Yes, I agree! Do you think they count invisible as a colour, too?"

After a minute of blatantly staring at Theodore, Ron shook his head. "You're a child."

Theo frowned. "No to invisible, then."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Harry asked with his arms folded over his chest, wand dangling in his right hand, as Draco began to tap the first paint bucket.

"Take a wild guess, Potter." Draco bit out, pulling the top off the first to reveal an emerald green.

"Oh, no. We are not decorating this room in Slytherin colours."

"Oh, really? What colours will we be using?" The blond moved to the second bucket and Harry darted forward, hurriedly tapping the third and fourth twice on the top. "Potter! You idiot, what did you do?"

"If there are Slytherin colours," Harry pulled back the tops of the cans, "there'll be Gryffindor colours too."

"No." Draco began to shake his head, standing up straight. "I refuse to make this room into some kind of strange, abstract depiction of the rivalries between Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"Good," Harry snapped, lifting up one of the buckets in his hands. "Because if that was the case it would just be a flew blobs of green and silver being dominated by red anyway, and that would just be pitiful. It's one thing to always lose as a House and another to see a visual representation of it."

"Just because your House is willing to use blatant favoritism in the rewarding of its students doesn't make Gryffindor any less of a cesspool of ridiculous bellowing of loyalty and love, Potter." Draco laughed, waving his wand so that some of the silver paint floated up from the bucket and rippled gently at its tip.

"Blatant favoritism is Snape's sole method of teaching Slytherins," Harry snarled, his grip on the bucket tightening. "I think you're confusing winning with bribery and deception. That's the only way you'll ever experience it, since obviously relying on Daddy's money just isn't good enough."

"You stupid sod," Draco reared back, his face flushing, and he slashed his wand through the air. Paint splashed all over Harry with enough force that his hair stood on end, silver dripping from the tips of strands.

"You-absolute-_bastard_!" Harry said through gritted teeth, swinging his arms back and throwing an excessive amount of paint straight over Draco's head. As the Malfoy stumbled back he reached for the gold and moved forward, throwing more in his direction.

"Actually my birth was entirely legitimate," Draco retorted, waving his wand again and shooting green pant all over Harry's side. "_Yours_ on the other hand, was questionable at best."

Harry's nostrils flared as he threw more paint, largely missing Draco and managing to get about half the sofa. "You imbecile!" Draco yelled, "you ruined it! This paint can't be removed by magic, you know!"

"Oh, really?" Harry tossed the bucket of recently refilled red paint directly over top of Draco's hair. "So your hair will be red forever?"

Draco plunged ahead, waving his wand quickly enough to keep a constant stream of paint shooting at Harry, who jumped to the side to avoid getting hit and rolled behind the table. "If you were smart enough to actually _read_ anything you would already know it comes off the human body with soap and water."

"You mean that isn't some kind of ugly wig you picked up, Malfoy? That's your real hair?" Harry's laughter was rewarded by a mouthful of silver paint, which tasted vaguely of rotten spinach.

"You _prick_!" Draco let out a feral yell and the two forgot entirely about the challenge.

* * *

When Hermione and Pansy were finally informed that half an hour had passed they trooped back into the main hallway, small splatters of paint dotting up their legs and a smudge or two on their faces. Hermione stopped short when she took in Harry and Draco, drenched from head to two in a myriad of green, silver, gold and red paints, standing sulkily side by side. Theodore was laughing and flicking at Draco's hair, which had evidently dried in awkward spikes all over his head.

"What did you do?" She asked as they drew nearer.

"It was, er, our method." Harry muttered, meeting her eyes briefly before glancing over at Draco and snickering despite himself.

"Yes. Quite effective." Draco cleared his throat, trying to wipe red paint off his cheekbone with hand already covered with silver and gold. Hermione laughed at his futile attempts and brushed his hand aside, replacing it with her thumb. She rubbed at it, managing to get about half of it off and smearing the rest into his skin.

"Oops," she chuckled under her breath, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." He said, tugging his face from her grip after a moment of hesitation. "It's…fine."

Sensing a shift in his mood she took a step back, her hand falling to her side. "Okay." Draco met her eyes, an unreadable expression flicking across his face and he opened his mouth to say something and her heart started to beat faster but she wasn't sure why and-

"It's time to go and take a look around the rooms!" Sheila called out and Draco averted his eyes quickly. Disappointed for reasons she couldn't even begin to figure out, Hermione followed the rest of her house mates into the first room.

Seamus and Blaise had painted the walls, ceiling and floor completely midnight blue like the night sky. The fireplace was a deep, rusty orange with swirls wrapping around it, streams twisting off like fire at the tip. The table and chairs were all an almost glowing yellow that, set against the blue of the room, Hermione was sure was supposed to look like stars. The couch was a greyish blue, deeper in shades and twisted to create texture against the fabric.

"Mhmm, very nice, very nice." James walked around appraisingly, running his hand over the couch. "I quite like this. Quite like it indeed."

Sheila seemed less impressed and they moved on to the next room, painted by Hermione and Pansy. The walls were a deep purple, set against a white ceiling and the rich colour of a deep hardwood on the floor. The fireplace was crimson, while the couch, table and chairs were a rich brown that Hermione associated with the leather love seat in her parents' living room.

"Ooh, now this is just lovely," Sheila beamed, looking to James for an enthusiasm that he obviously did not share. "Well, _I_ love it, girls. On to the next one!"

Ron seemed rather embarrassed by the silence that immediately followed the group's entrance to the room he and Theodore had painted. The ceiling was a cacophony of colours, swirling together and sliding against one another like snakes. The walls were solid black with swirling curlicues of glittery blue and the floor they stood on didn't even appear to have a colour, merely giving the impression of standing on a plateau of sparkles. The table, fireplace and couch were all matching colours of lavender, a shocking contrast to the lack of order all around them.

"Erm…nice." Sheila said and they made a hasty retreat.

As soon as they walked into Draco and Harry's room and Sheila and James both sucked in gasps, smiles stretching their faces, Hermione was pretty sure they were the winners. Covering nearly every surface in the room was evidence of why they were both covered in paint. Splatters of gold, silver, green and red were splashed everywhere, even the ceiling, in some places mixing just enough to create swirls, in others isolated with speckles of one colour overlapping the others.

"This is amazing!" James said excitedly, letting his fingers rest over a point where red formed a sort of ring around a spot of silver. "This is like some kind of metaphor to the kind of lives you lead together! The sharpness of the silver and green, the boldness of the gold and red! It's fabulous!"

Draco was staring at James with his eyebrows raised so high the skin around them turned paler than usual. Harry squinted at him, as if trying to decide if James was joking or not.

"Give us one moment to confer!" Sheila called out and she pulled James into the corner, gesticulating wildly.

"I told you they would think it's metaphorical," Draco hissed to Harry with the special glare he reserved just for him.

"Who cares, Malfoy? It's like an abstract painting; people will see what they want to." Harry shot back, his jaw set in a tight line.

"What do you think it looks like?" Draco turned imploringly to Hermione, as if her opinion really mattered to him. Which, she realized with a warm glow, it probably did. They'd had their awkward friendship talk, so of course friends ask other friends questions that matter to them.

"I think it looks like you two got into a pretty big argument," she replied, which seemed to be the right answer because a small smile turned Draco's lips.

"Alright, everyone! We've discussed the stylings of each room in great detail and have decided that this room, by Draco and Harry, perfectly embodies the kind of relationship turmoil that exists between the two, and the artistry…it must have taken a lot of work to get the paint splatters to look so good, and to have such vivid depictions of the interactions of Slytherins and Gryffindors! Well done, boys!" James grinned happily, waving them forward.

"The prize for this particular challenge," Sheila said as she rubbed her hands together, "is 50 galleons each and two hours of unfilmed alone time!"

Neither Draco or Harry looked particularly pleased with the last bit and each accepted the bags of galleons somewhat sulkily. Harry tried to push the bag into the pocket of his jeans and was wholly unsuccessful in achieving anything other than giving off the impression that he had some kind of extra appendage.

"Well, that was quite fun!" James nodded, rocking on the balls of his feet. "Your supplies should now be in your kitchens, with your cookbooks. The clothing you brought should be in the closet just inside the door to avoid getting dirty amid your preparations. You have until 5:45 tonight to have every part of your meal plated in the kitchen and to be completely dressed for dinner."

"There will be no magic to complete this challenge," Sheila said and frowned when Ron groaned, "except for heat preservation charms, or that sort. There's a list on the kitchen counter of those that will be permitted. You have the whole day to get everything ready, starting now. Good luck!"

Hermione glanced down at her watch. It was 10:14, so she had plenty of time to get everything organized perfectly. She smiled at her friends and disappeared through the door that had her name on it.

The kitchen itself was quite impressive, with a variety of pots and pans hanging by their handles against one wall, spoons, spatulas and any kind of overlarge utensil she could think of against another wall. The counter was large and looked to be made of marble. A silver refrigerator was beside four ovens and two microwaves. A large cutting board was already resting on the counter beside the sink. Opening all the drawers brought bowls and dishes into her line of sight.

Hermione began by once more reading through her chosen recipes and setting out to finish the cake for Draco first. Technically the meringues were supposed to be able to dry overnight, but she hoped that if she got them finished early enough in the day, by the evening she would have time to prepare it and they would be dry enough.

She worked steadily through the instructions, lining the cooking sheet with parchment paper in preparation for the meringues, and beating together egg whites and cream of tartar. Her thoughts wandered to her teammates and she hoped Theodore and Blaise were doing alright. Draco had seemed to pick up on cooking quite quickly and was rational enough to think through things before he actually plunged into them, whereas Theodore seemed more inclined to make random guesses and follow his every whim. Blaise, on the other hand, wanted to add embellishments to recipes but lacked the experience necessary to make them actually successful.

_What exactly does marshmallow cream look like?_ Hermione squinted into the bowl as if it would provide her the answers she was looking for. For good measure she beat the mixture 30 seconds more.

_Flick water onto parchment paper. _She ran her fingers under the tap and returned to the stove top, tentatively flicking her fingers over the sheet until droplets of water fell onto the parchment paper. As she spooned the meringue mixture onto the paper and then smoothed it over with a spatula she absentmindedly looked around the kitchen for some source of radio or music player. Coming up empty she slipped the meringues into the oven and dug through her bag until she found her iPod and slipped the headphones into her ears.

Humming under her breath she flipped through her book until she found the World's Best Lasagna Recipe for Blaise. It would take two and a half hours to cook, but she'd read online while searching for lasagna making tips that by leaving the lasagna in the fridge for a few hours the flavours would blend better.

She began by browning the meat in the skillet with the garlic and onions, sifting through the mixture to make sure it was evenly cooked, and then added in the herbs, tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. After stirring it together she set the timer on the oven for an hour and a half, before stepping back with a small sigh. She couldn't start the baked vegetables for Blaise's side dish yet, because she wanted to aim for them to be ready about ten minutes before they were to serve dinner.

A few hours later all her dishes were in progress. In her mind her hair was falling gracefully around her shoulders, there was a delicate flush on her cheeks, and she was gracefully darting around the kitchen, finishing her dishes with elegance and ample time left on the clock. When she chanced to glance at herself at about 4:30 it was to see that her hair had expanded to massive proportions and was swaying around her crimson face and that her movements were moderately panicked as she counted down the time on the clock. Opening the oven door and barely managing to sidestep the gust of hot air that flooded her face she pulled out the lasagna, looking at it from underneath with the hope that it would reveal its current state of completion to her that way.

When she'd organized her food on the counter, double and triple checked their states of completion, she set the proper preservation spells. Without hesitating she snatched her duffle bag from the floor and hurried from the room.

The water from her shower washed away the tension from cooking in a hot kitchen and she _almost_ couldn't convince herself to get back out. Dressing quickly in the dress and flats she'd brought along she ran some styling cream through her hair, pinned it back on one side, and hurried back to her kitchen.

Inside she pulled out the plates provided for her from the show and plated the food. She set about trying to coerce it into looking nicely arranged, which was wholly unsuccessful, and then set about her proper preservation charms until they were served. Checking her reflection in the mirror she rolled her shoulders, coughed once, and then headed out to the waiting area.

When everyone gathered together, with one minute to spare, Sheila and James paired everyone off. Their special guest for the evening turned out to be Ginny, and she appeared smiling through one of the doors. In a matter of seconds she and Harry were whisked away to their private dinner, followed by Ron and Pansy, Theodore and Blaise and Hermione and Draco. Inside their rooms they were seated by men who looked suspiciously like the guards who'd helped bring them onto the show.

"Do you think they actually made these pairings by random draw?" Hermione asked as she took a sip of water, looking up as their server brought in their appetizers.

"Not at all," Draco rolled his eyes, "I have the feeling that we'll always be paired up for everything. Just so they can feed into the delusions of their viewers, and such."

"Probably," She rolled her eyes with what sounded like a terribly awkward and nervous laugh, at least to her ears. "I'm surprised they didn't separate Blaise and Theodore, though."

Draco shrugged, examining the shrimp on his plate with interest. "They've both been kind of stressed out, lately. They'll probably be fine tonight, though. They're friends for a reason"

Hermione read the card label that came with her food, not entirely sure what teriyaki puffs entailed, and cut one in half, popping it into her mouth. Frowning she chewed, not quite sure what it tasted like, but came to the conclusion after much deliberation that she liked it.

"This is actually really good," Draco said, eating another shrimp, "Do you like shrimp? Would you like to try?"

"Erm, sure," she reached out and tried to accept the extended piece by the end, but wasn't quite sure how to go about doing so without dropping it.

Smirking, Draco stood up and leaned over, "Here."

Trying to repress a smile when she realized what he was doing she opened her mouth, accepting the shrimp. Her lips just barely grazed the tip of his finger and she pulled back quickly, a flush working itself onto her cheeks.

They both sat back down and she nodded, looking up from under her eyelashes. "It was good."

He nodded, taking a drink.

The rest of dinner went on without incident and she ended up eating a really well-crafted garlic pepper steak with some kind of feta-cheese-mashed-potato-herb-y creation on the side. Dessert was a delightful concoction of tangy lemon squares, with icing sugar dusted on the top that was potentially her favourite part of the meal. Draco seemed pleased with the meringue cake and it was with light moods that they rejoined their friends, all of whom seemed well fed and in good spirits.

"Here are your scoring sheets," Sheila went around to each of them and handed them a sheet of paper and a pen. "Please fill them out and we will calculate the winner from each team. We'll let you know tomorrow."

Hermione went through her sheet, yawning as she sought to remember her exact reaction to everything. After they'd handed in their scoring sheets they were given the freedom to discuss who'd made the food for each other. In the car ride back to the house Hermione found out that Blaise had made her appetizer, Theodore her side, and Draco both her main dish and dessert.

The team collapsed on the couches when they returned, not even bothering to take off their shoes, and Hermione lay on her back, legs hanging over the armrest, staring at the ceiling as Blaise and Theodore talked about the ways the show and Blaise's recording company were accommodating each other and when he was due to start recording. Draco added his own two knuts every once in a while and, before long, she'd fallen asleep.

**Author's Note (2012): I've literally just come to the moderately painful conclusion now that making up a chart with what dish every single character was making for every other character, as well as saving the instructions and figuring out how much time it would take, was utterly unnecessary. Talk about excessive preperation.**

**In other news, I'm finishing my first year as a university student and I absolutely adore it. Studying all things I love, enjoying residence, meeting new people, etc. I hope you've all been well! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed in the past little while, and particularily Sophie, who has sent me a few messages that were borderline threatening, but in all the pleasant ways. It was a nice reminder to keep going! Oh, and to those of you who have reviewed in the last few months and I didn't reply-I felt like I would be kind of a tool for answering them now, so I promise to resume my good reviewing-responding behaviour with this chapter, and sorry for any hard feelings.**

**ALSO—I'd like to know who you guys want voted off the show FIRST and SECOND. I'll make a poll regarding this on my profile, but for those who don't want to travel that far, in a review would be appreciated.**

**Review, si vous plait! : ) **


	26. The First Elimination

**Author's Note: I expected this chapter to be done about a week and a half ago (sorry **_**thatsjustusxx**_**) but then I went through this weird three day Glee obsession (I've always liked it, but I just watched the Glee Project obsessively and rewatched a few episodes) and then came to the inevitable conclusion that the nearly complete 16 page chapter was mostly complete rubbish. The initial challenge I had was this weird season based obstacle course that ended up involving butter and it was so weird, and I also realized that without the looming eliminations there would be no plot movement. So I spent a day moping and trying to find ways to save what I'd written with small changes (should've learned from Gorbachev and just scrapped it all, props if you understand) so I deleted about seven pages of writing.**

**Also, I started to use this story as a vehicle to push my own secondary character agenda (I actually love developed secondary characters. And obviously I want to include developed secondary characters in this story, but they can't be the main focus). So basically I spent about a week rethinking this story's direction and, specifically, this chapter. But that means more organization. So it was worth it.**

**In other news, I'm officially done my first year—passed all my classes, moved out of residence, have a house set up for next year, working this summer, have a job for next year. Ideally the next four months will be used to complete this story, and read through the good stack of books I have yet to crack open.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, etc.**

The next few days in the house passed relatively quietly. Blaise wasn't around a whole lot because he had meetings to get to and was working in the studio with producers, but when he was in he was generally in a good mood. Theodore read a lot and had begun his summer work and occasionally asked for Hermione's input, because she'd finished hers in June. Draco and Harry went off for their undocumented time together and returned looking no worse for wear and with less of an edge in their interaction, which Hermione considered a definite improvement. Andrea and Ron spent a lot of time together, and when he wasn't with her he and Harry were frequently flying outside. Pansy and Blaise ended up being the winners of the last challenge and went gallivanting off together for a day. Both were rather close lipped about where they'd been, but they seemed much more relaxed.

Despite the rainy and cold weather it was a happy house that Sheila and James walked into on Friday afternoon. Hermione was stretched out on one of the couches, reading about the Goblin Uprising of 1829 and taking notes if there was anything she could add to her History of Magic essay. Blaise had napped for a few hours and was scribbling away in the journal Hermione had given him, and Theodore was lying on his stomach on the floor, frowning into his Arithmancy text. Draco wandered in, phone in hand, and was followed closely by Sheila and James.

"The next challenge," Sheila informed them after Hermione had curled her legs beneath her, allowing Draco to take a seat beside her, "Is the first one that will result in eliminations. It has three components, a social, physical and mental."

"How well you perform in the first determines your standing at the beginning of the second, and so on." James told them, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "The first part will take place tonight, and it's the social aspect, the next two will take place tomorrow."

"In two groups, which are your separate teams, you'll be going out to muggle clubs. You have one hour to socialize and get comfortable, and after than one hour you each have to get the phone number of someone from the opposite sex. Wait," Sheila held up a hand at Blaise, who'd frowned and started to speak, "You'll be going to clubs frequented by heterosexual young adults, so if you really don't want to get a girl's phone number, that's up to you. But it will make the challenge more difficult."

"Once you have that phone number you have to come find an assistant working on the show, who will be identified for you before you head in, and then he or she will check to make sure it's real. If it is, the rest of the night is yours. If not, try again." James smiled at them all, "Your cars will be by to pick you up at 10:30. Make sure you dress the part. Any questions?"

The room stayed silent, so the couple bid them adieu and set off to the other section of the house to find the Pansy Pickers.

"Dress the part?" Theodore wrinkled his nose, folding up his book. "Wait, does this mean I'm going to have to be charming?"

"Probably," Draco said with a nod, looking far more confident than Hermione felt. "If you can manage."

"Damn. I better be able to drink at this club," Theodore mumbled, wandering from the room without another word.

Blaise pursed his lips together, scribbling another line into his book and popping it shut. Draco cast a look at Hermione and then stood, following Theodore. Hermione waited until his footsteps couldn't be heard anymore and then turned to Blaise, who was staring at the ceiling. "Hey, Blaise?"

"Mmm?" He looked up at her, eyebrows raised, and moved into a sitting position. She hesitated, wondering if he wasn't in an approachable mood, and then he patted the seat beside him.

"Er, you go to wizard clubs, right?" She asked, ignoring the gesture. "What, ahem, I mean what do girls wear?"

Blaise's expressed changed from contemplative to joyous in less than a second. "Are you asking me to help you pick out something to wear?"

"Erm, not really." She backed a few steps up, resisting the urge to laugh nervously when he followed her. "I just—"

"Are we having a gay friend moment?" He asked, his smile stretching to an inordinate degree. "Have we become the stereotype of a girl and her gay?"

"Haha. Ha." She shook her head fervently, folding her arms across her chest. "I just, I suppose I could ask Pansy but I figure since I already know you go out you could just give me a couple pointers, or something like that. So I don't look ridiculously out of place."

"I'll do better!" He grabbed her hand, tugging her alongside him to their rooms. "I'll help you plan your outfit. I mean I'm not one of those fashionable gay stereotypes—I don't know if they're like that in the muggle world but the wizarding world is _full_ of them—but I can help you out. I know what boys like."

Hermione followed him into her room, glancing at the pale orange colour of her name on the door, before taking a seat on her bed. Blaise pointed to her closet, "Can I?"

"Sure," she nodded, pulling her pillow into her lap. Blaise wove through the hanging clothes, pulling out a few items every once in a while, throwing them over his arm.

"Is this all you've got?" He poked his head out, brows drawn in consternation, and she shook her head, nodding to the dresser.

"The bottom three drawers," she replied with slight trepidation as he tossed the pile he'd collected onto the bed and then pulled the drawers open, rifling around. Even with the knowledge that they would find something appropriate for her to wear she had no idea how to go about getting the phone numbers of men, particularly not the kind who hung out in clubs. She'd always kind of idealized that the man she would end up falling in love with and marrying would come to appreciate her through their acquaintance, and come to view her quirks and oddities as endearing. She wasn't exactly the sort to pick guys up in bars, or to draw their attention. She assumed the only way that could happen was if she ever tried to dance, or fell over.

"Why don't you wear half of these things?" Blaise asked, glancing up at her as he held a blue chiffon blouse in front of him.

"Because they're ridiculous." Hermione answered, tossing her pillow to the side and rolling onto her stomach. "My mother bought them for me. I think she has this idea that by sending me to a boarding school with uniforms that I'm missing out on all the opportunities girls my age have to be girly and everything. Which," she admitted, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "I suppose is true, but I don't mind, really. Fashion is the least of my priorities."

"I can tell," Blaise said with a grin and brought another small collection of clothes to her bed. "You should wear this skirt."

She glanced at it once. "No."

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with it." Blaise frowned, holding the black skirt away from himself.

"Look at how short it is. It's half the length of my Hogwarts skirt!"

"The Hogwarts skirts were designed to make girls look like twelve year olds at all times," Blaise sniffed, dropping the skirt onto the bed. "Not that they succeed, with the way they roll the tops up. What about this skirt?"

"It's the same length," she pointed out, shaking her head. "I'm not going to show up to the club looking like some kind of _scarl_—"

"Sorry? What were you just about to say?" Blaise paused his perusal of her clothing to look at her, corners of his lips twisted up in delight.

"Scarlet woman," she rolled her eyes when he let out a spluttered laugh. "Ron's mum says it. Sort of catches on."

"Scarlet woman," Blaise snorted, shaking his head. "What if you wore those tights things? Leggings?"

"Doesn't change the length of the skirt," she said, wrinkling her nose. "I was hoping there'd be something else."

"Something not so scarlet woman-y?" He suggested with a laugh, tossing the skirts aside. Eventually they found a pair of dark wash skinny jeans that she didn't object to and an emerald green tank top that tied up just behind her neck and had a band tight around her hips.

"Blaise?" Draco popped his head into the room, "There's an owl going berserk in the kitchen for you."

Blaise's face brightened, "It's probably the studio!"

They watched him hurry from the room and Draco turned back to her, eyes rolling over the clothes discarded on her bed. "Going somewhere?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Well, tonight. Blaise was just helping me go through some options," she hastily tried to push the skirts out of the way while avoiding looking like she was trying to push the skirts out of the way. He followed her movements with his head cocked to the side, one eyebrow raised and she resorted to patting the pile, nodding. "Right. You ready for tonight?"

"Yeah," he leaned against her bedpost, arms crossed over his chest. "It shouldn't be too difficult, right? Just ask a girl for her cellphone number, right?"

"If she gives it to you, yeah." Hermione said, running her hand up and down the inside seam of her jeans.

"That's why I have my Malfoy charm," Draco said and she could hear the smile in his voice. She shrugged, nodding, and continued to run her thumb over the stitching. "You alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Of course." She looked up and smiled, shrugging.

"Are you worried the girls won't give _you _their numbers?"

"Shut up." Hermione rolled her eyes, letting her breath out in a huff. He reached out to stop her hand, meeting her eyes levelly. She sucked in a breath unconsciously as his hand settled on her knee.

"You'll be fine. Just pull out the Granger charm you've got hidden in there. The stuff you use to talk to people who aren't me." He smiled after a brief hesitation, his eyes flickering back to her leg and he withdrew his hand hurriedly. "Also, do something to your hair. It's like a rose bush. Cut away all the bramble and the leaves and all that. Find the roses."

She flushed in spite of herself. "I can't believe you actually just said that to me, Malfoy."

"It's my Malfoy charm in action, actually." He pushed off, walking back to the door with his hands in his pockets. "Just practicing."

"You're about as charming as the Bloody Baron. With the chains," she retorted as she climbed off her bed and set about folding her clothes back up.

"I'm sure the Baron would love to hear about how delightful you find him," he called over his shoulder, "I'm sure he'd be willing to leave the dungeons to visit the Gryffindor tower at least once a week."

"Tell him and you can spend the rest of eternity haunting the dungeons with him."

Hermione listened as his laughter drifted down the hallway, a smile flitting over her face. After a moment she realized that she was staring after him out the door and shook her head, turning back to the clothes.

* * *

_Well, these are tight pants. _Hermione surveyed herself in the mirror doubtfully, wondering if ankles were supposed to look that small. In the hopes of making the first part even moderately easier she'd broken out a bottle of Sleakeasy's and researched charms that were supposed to help keep hair straight. Pansy had wandered in at one point and helped her put eyeliner on in a straight line and tried to wrestle her into wearing heels, which she'd stoutly refused.

Purse in hand she tried to shake the feeling of doubt curling around her stomach and rubbed her shaking hands over her legs. Blaise, Theodore and Draco were all gathered by the door in varying states of attractiveness, all long legs and elegantly styled clothing. "Bloody Baron eat your heart out," Draco smirked and she rolled her eyes at him, wondering how exactly girls in books managed to fight blushes and if she could figure out how to do it as well.

"Hey, Hermione," Theodore sidled up to her and put his arm around her waist, smiling down at her. "You look lovely."

"He's been drinking for the last hour," Blaise rolled his eyes and peeled Theodore away from her. "Trying to push all his wanker tendencies to the side of his personality for a minute."

"Can't decide if this is an improvement or not," Draco snickered and raised his hands in the air when Theodore glared at him. "Just don't get too fresh."

"That's how Blaise always pulls," Theodore said and snickered when Blaise opened his mouth, presumably to protest, before shrugging and nodding with a sheepish smile.

They climbed into their car and were greeted by the representative from the show, a pale dark haired man dressed in dark clothes with a beanie pulled low on his forehead. "Hello, all. I'm Mitchell." He smiled at them and recited their instructions as their car began to move. "We're going to drop two of you off a block or so away, with the directions of course, one of you is going to have to wait in line at the front and the other gets to by-pass through the back. We don't want it to look like you came together."

Hermione was embarrassed to admit that the realization that they couldn't all be together made her more than a little nervous. "Won't people find it weird that someone goes in alone? I don't suppose it's very common for people to go out by themselves."

"Hold on," the car slowed to a stop and he nodded to Blaise and Draco, who were the closest to the door. "You two hop out. The club is called Cowboy's, you walk down this street to the next stop light, turn right and you should see the sign just down the road. Here's your cover charge and money for drinks," he handed over some muggle bills, "Any questions send me a text. I'll be in in about twenty minutes, and you'll receive a text when I'll be accepting phone numbers. Go on."

Blaise hopped out, casting one look back to Theodore and Hermione, and then Draco followed him and the door slid shut. "Right," Mitchell turned, "Hermione we're going to get you to wait in line. Try to creep up to some girls and make it look like you're with them, okay?"

"Erm, right." She nodded, accepting the cover fee he extended to her. "I—"

"Aaand here we are, hop out." Mitchell opened the door and she felt her stomach tighten as her blood momentarily turned to ice. "Come on."

"Erm, right. See you," she nodded to Theodore and climbed out, hurrying to where a line was formed outside the club. She could see Blaise and Draco turning onto the street and fell in right behind a group of girls wearing stilettos and short dresses. Running her hands up and down her arms she breathed a sigh into the muggy air, damp from rain and cold from night.

As Blaise and Draco walked by her she turned to avoid displaying any recognition, accidentally jostling a muscular man who stood just to her left. "Oh, sorry." He turned swiftly in her direction and then, after doing a double take, turned back.

"That's alright," his eyes went up and down her body and she tried to avoid wrinkling her nose at his blatant survey. "You here alone?"

"No," she said quickly and then realized that in front of her were the solid backs of the girls and behind her was a group of older looking males who were paying no attention to her. "I needed a breath of air, and they wouldn't let me slip back in."

"Rubbish luck," he said, but the interest in his eyes faded and he turned back to his friend without another word. Breathing a short sigh of relief she huddled closer to the girls in front of her and was quickly admitted through the doors.

The club wasn't much classier than the name suggested and she squinted her eyes to see through the flashing lights on the dance floor to where the bar area was. She'd only been out of the car for seven minutes and, with the intention of avoiding the dance floor for as long as possible, she headed straight for it.

"What can I get you?" The bartender was a sturdy blonde with a friendly smile and, noticing Hermione's hesitation, offered "Pornstars are rather good. First one's on me."

"Thanks," she said with a smile, glancing down the counter and then to the dance floor. Her eyes were scanning the crowd and came to a sudden halt on Theodore, who had his hands pressed to the abdomen of a girl whose back was pressed to him, writhing with the music. A flash of blonde hair by the door drew her eye and then she turned back to the bar, trying to seem like she wasn't paying attention.

"Here you are," A drink was pushed across the counter to her and as Hermione took her first sip, which was nowhere near as disgusting as she'd expected, moved to help the next person.

"I'd love a Sex on the Beach," a familiar drawl came from Hermione's left and she felt her back stiffen, but didn't look.

"Coming right up." The bartender's smile was noticeably friendlier.

"Thanks," Draco leaned an elbow onto the bar top and flashed a grin, "I'm Draco."

"Sam," she said as she set about mixing liquor into the glass.

"Good night?" His eyes flicked briefly to Hermione and she realized she was staring and hurriedly returned to her drink.

"Busy, you?"

"Just got a bit better." He accepted the drink and wandered off, "Thanks, Sam."

"You should go after him," Sam said to her, inclining her head in the direction Draco had disappeared off to. "He definitely just checked you out."

Flushing and trying to tell herself not to be ridiculous she shook her head. "I, erm, can I get another?" Accepting the drink she walked away from the bar, checking her phone. Mitchell had just let them know that he was in the club, but not accepting phone numbers yet.

_Fantastic_. She resisted the urge to grimace and lifted her drink high in the air, following a girl who pushed through the dancing bodies to find her friends. Imitating her she swayed her hips a bit, taking another sip. The dance floor was incredibly hot and she could feel a slight flush coming over her from the alcohol, making her feel less self-conscious about dancing. A few feet away from her she could make out the occasional snatches of Blaise, his forehead pressed against a girl whose arms were wrapped around his neck.

A hand wrapped around her waist and she almost jumped as a firm body pushed up against her. It was actually a bit nice, she concluded after they'd achieved a kind of rhythm, because whoever she was dancing with was doing all the work and she could lean back against him without feeling exposed to everyone else. It wasn't until he reached out and pulled her hair from her face, his lips on her neck that she started to feel awkward. Masking shaking him off by taking another drink she almost jumped when he ground hard against her. She could feel his lips moving rather than hear what he was saying and she turned to try and get a look at him.

He pointed at her empty glass and gestured back to the bar.

"Erm, no thanks," she tried to shout over the music and he leaned closer to her, squinting. "I don't really do this often," she laughed awkwardly as she tried to explain and he frowned, not seeming to understand, before releasing his hands from her waist. By the time she'd blinked he was being gyrated on by another girl, leaving Hermione to stare in shock and consternation.

Making her way back to the bar she spotted Theodore sitting on a stool, two empty shot glasses in front of him, talking to another girl who was trying to climb into his lap. Requesting another drink she fanned herself, regretting somewhat the decision not to wear a skirt simply to avoid the extra layer keeping her body heat in. Near the edge of the dance floor she saw Blaise talking into a brunette's ear, both their eyes fixed on the bar, and she turned away self-consciously.

"Thanks," she moved back to the dance floor, contemplating the various ways she could get someone's phone number without having to actually make out with them. She got as far into the middle of the group as she could, nearly walking into Draco being sandwiched by two girls. One of them seemed to have no qualms about his pointy face and was snogging him wholeheartedly while her friend, presumably, danced against him from behind.

Halfway through her third drink her movements were coming freer and by the time she'd finished it a moderately good looking boy with heavy eyebrows and a tangle of brown curls approached her. One of his hands went for the small of her back and the other to her waist, where it flexed and then drew her close. She felt a buzz in her pocket and, assuming it was Mitchell letting them know that he would be accepting numbers at any time, she decided to set her sights on the boy she was dancing with.

They danced another song together and then he started angling his head in a way that suggested he wanted to kiss her, so she looked to the left and then took a shot. Leaning closer, heart beating rapidly for reasons other than the heat, dancing and alcohol, she said, "Hey, can I get your cell number?"

He shook his head, pointing to his ear, and she got so close her lips brushed against the tip of his earlobe. Nodding in understanding he reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, to her dismay, and then fiddled with the buttons without stopping their movement. Accepting it back she saw that he'd added himself as Brian : ).

The song ended, which she considered perfect timing, and she lifted her hand to show him her empty glass and shouted "I'll talk to you later."

He didn't seem to understand and followed her back to the bar, where he proceeded to buy her another drink and started chatting while he drank a beer. Judging from the way his hands gesticulated she was guessing it was nowhere near his first. Glancing over her shoulder she couldn't make out anyone else from her team and felt her heart beating faster and faster at the idea that they'd all already given Mitchell their numbers and had left.

Brian erupted into a fit of laughter and she turned back to him, her heart coming to a stuttering halt as pure relief filled her veins. Mitchell was seated in the stool closest to the wall, his beanie still pulled low, nursing a massive glass of beer.

"One second," she held up one finger to Brian and started for Mitchell. "Here it is," she held her phone out, the contact tab open. Mitchell grinned at her and pulled out his phone, quickly typing in the number.

"Thanks, Hermione. I'll send out another text when I've verified your number, and then another when it's time to go. You can just have fun, now."

Realizing that she had beat at least one person on her team made her bones feel like they'd been replaced by yoghurt and she returned to Brian with a smile on her face. He, on the other hand, was glaring at Mitchell and proceeded to start ranting to her about being deceptive and, as she stood listening with an open mouth, ended the tirade by calling her a stupid slut.

"Excuse me!" Anger swirled through her and she set her drink down, hands curling. "I was just talking _to my friend_, I do believe that that's allowed—"

"I'm so sick of two timing slags," he raged, paying no attention to her protests.

"Can a girl not go talk to another boy without being insulted?" Shaking from a combination of outrage and the alcohol she couldn't stop herself from seizing her drink and tossing it over him. "_Thanks _for the drink."

She stormed past him as he spluttered curse words after her and returned to the dance floor, where she was approached quite quickly and danced for the remainder of the night while avoiding wandering lips and adventurous hands. By the time her phone buzzed the second time, letting her know it was time to go, it was 1:30 AM and her vision seemed to have sunken into her head a bit. She hurriedly detached herself from the guy she'd been dancing with just in time to avoid the hand that was trying to creep up her top and, thanking the tight band around her hips, darted outside.

The car was waiting and she jumped in, twirling her hair to get it off her neck and reclining against the seat. Draco climbed in shortly after, his hair rumpled and his lips a bit swollen, and then Blaise followed. The brief moments the door was open afforded her a good enough view to see girls hobbling away from the club in heels and guys stumbling out with their arms around each other's' shoulders.

"That was fun," Blaise said, rolling his eyes as he leaned back against the seat.

"Bloody rubbish," Draco tried to comb through his hair with a hand. "Kept trying to get their numbers and they kept trying to eat my face."

"I think they deliberately picked a dodgy club," Blaise said and reached his hands up to massage his head. "All the girls on the dance floor got swept up pretty fast."

Mitchell climbed in and slammed the door shut. "Theodore is cabbing back, so we're off!"

"Cabbing? Why?" Blaise frowned, opening his eyes.

"He's with a lady." Mitchell grinned, "So expect him back late."

"He went home with someone?"

"Yep," Mitchell leaned back and yawned. "I am beat."

"Was she really smashed?" Blaise persisted, leaning his elbows on his knees.

Mitchell snorted, "No. She seemed to handle her drinks well. He drank a lot more."

"How pissed was he? Out of control?"

Eyebrows raised, Mitchell answered, "It's not up to me to decide how drunk is too drunk. He seemed fine."

Draco smiled tiredly, "I always forget that Theodore can actually pull if he really tries."

"Me too," Blaise said in a tense voice and folded his arms over his chest. "I hope he's careful."

As they filed into the house Hermione was struggling to keep her eyes from closing on their own accord and, just before they parted ways, found herself wrapping her arms around Draco's side. He tensed at first, before returned the hug as best he could from the angle, and then she said goodnight and practically collapsed on her bed.

She was asleep almost instantly.

* * *

By the time Hermione had dragged herself out of bed, showered, brushed her teeth twice in an attempt to get rid of the taste of the previous night and had two cups of steaming tea it was 11:30. Blaise had wandered into the kitchen while she waited for the kettle to boil the second time and joined her at the table, nibbling non-committedly at a piece of toast. Theodore stumbled into the room as she was rinsing her mug and Blaise had abandoned his food in favour of the Prophet.

"Morning," she said with a friendly smile as he filled the kettle and began digging through a drawer for a sachet of Earl Grey.

He looked up at her as if surprised, "Hi."

"Good night?" She asked after a silence she'd thought Blaise would fill, as he usually did after Hermione and Theodore had exchanged pleasantries in the morning. Instead he continued to read, eyes narrowed, and she wondered why he was in such a mood.

"Alright," he shrugged, fumbling around in the cupboard.

"When did you get back?" The tea had made her feel less exhausted and made way for hunger, so she rifled around in the fridge until she found a box of strawberries.

"'about three." He poured hot water over the bag and began to spoon copious amounts of honey in after it.

"Three?" She repeated in surprise, "That's not very long."

"I only had to make sure she got home safely," Theodore gave her a strange look that was all drawn eyebrows and downturned lips. "Why?"

"Er, nothing." She said as she bit into a strawberry, casting him a sidelong glance as he sipped his tea.

Draco emerged from the bathroom, a towel around his waist and a shirt thrown on hastily. He grunted in acknowledgement and passed down the hallway to his room. "Friendly in the morning, isn't he?" Theodore said with a snicker, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. Blaise laughed, the surly expression gone from his face. "How are you all feeling, by the way?"

"Alright," she shrugged and Blaise nodded in agreement. "I had to brush my teeth for about ten minutes before it felt like the taste of Pornstar was actually out of my mouth."

Theodore cackled, "That's definitely on the list of things I never expected to hear come out of your mouth."

She paused, frowning—and then realized what he was implying and flushed. "Don't be crude!"

"You were getting pretty friendly with a few guys last night," Blaise waggled his eyebrows at her over his mug.

Her blush deepened. "I was not! I danced with a few, but nothing actually happened!"

Draco strolled in, twirling his wand around his fingers, and glanced from her flushed face to Blaise and Theodore. "Do I want to know?"

"We're just talking about Granger dancing with half the club last night." Theodore said, a smirk twisting his lips.

"Oh," Draco's expression darkened momentarily and then he smirked as well.

"I did _not!_ You guys are being ridiculous," she huffed, stirring her spoon around in the dregs of her tea. "There weren't more than a handful, and it was _just _dancing. Nowhere _near_ as bad as what everyone around me was doing, not to mention what you three got up to."

Blaise shrugged and unpeeled a banana. "Just didn't take you as one for the dirty dancing."

Resisting the urge to quote a film none of them would understand she gave up on the stirring and stood up to rinse the mug in the sink. "Again, it was not dirty! And just because I'm not some kind of-of—"

"Scarlet woman?" Blaise supplied helpfully, exchanging a smile with Theodore when he snorted.

"Well, yes! Just because I'm not doesn't mean that I can't have fun and dance if I want to. There's this preposterous double standard that boys can go around and do whatever they want, but if a girl does something that goes against their fragile ideals of what girls should be like she's instantly labeled a whore! It's ridiculous!" Hermione took in a deep breath when she realized they were all staring at her and sighed. "When I went to give the phone number for the challenge, the boy who gave it to me saw and called me a stupid slut."

"_What?" _Draco glared, "He was clearly delusional, and probably had a brain the size of a newt. I knew he had a shady look about him."

"Can you even remember what he looked like?" She frowned, leaning back against the counter.

"Yeah, he was the one who looked like a dumb prick." Draco said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The buzz of Hermione's phone in her pocket interrupted their conversation and she pulled it out, reading the message out loud when she saw who it was from. "We have fifteen minutes to meet out in the garden."

Theodore groaned and lifted his mug to his forehead, eyes closing as the steam floated over his face. "Better get ready."

Hermione stuffed her phone back into her pocket, popped a strawberry into her mouth and hurried back to her room. Remembering what they'd said about there being both physical and mental components of the challenge she put on sweatpants and a hoodie that had been her father's in high school. The weather, instead of returning to unusually sunny and warm, had rained a bit more and gotten even colder than the previous day so she wanted to be prepared.

The garden was, if possible, greener than it had ever been. Leaves dripped from the rain that had fallen in the last hour and the sun was hiding behind great grey clouds. Harry, Ron and Pansy joined them shortly in the garden and, after they'd all gathered, Sheila and James strode into the small clearing.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Did you have good nights?" James smiled around at them all, his eyes flitting to Blaise twice when he snorted. "Our next challenge is a combination of the physical and the mental."

"Basically, you have to finish the puzzle and make a perfect square." Sheila explained, "The pieces are wooden and buried in sand pits. You need to find the pieces and slot them correctly. There are numbers on certain areas of the pieces, and they must be beside a number on a correlating piece that, when added, they both equal nine. Any questions?"

Hermione shook her head and began to think of strategies as Harry asked how many pieces there were, and was denied an answer.

"If that's all, then, please follow me." The group set off after James, who broke into a cheerful rendition of 'You Raise Me Up' and successfully overshot every single high note. They were led into another small clearing that had seven sandpits roughly one metre apart, set down a small but slight embankment. Roughly fifty metres away from each pit was a silver surface that she realized was where they would have to put together the puzzle.

"You can only carry one piece from the pit to the metal at a time." Sheila informed them, shooting James a dark glare when he fumbled what was supposed to be a key change and instead sounded like two different animals dying. "The challenge will finish when everyone has completed the puzzle. You cannot communicate with your teammates during this challenge."

They were then distributed between the sand pits so that the teams were staggered, with Hermione standing between Pansy and Harry just behind her sand pit. She looked across to where the silver surface reflected what meagre sun shone through the clouds and then down the small slope to where the sand sat, hiding the pieces she needed.

"You may begin!" Sheila called out and Hermione scrambled down the side, sliding through the somewhat damp sand, and fell immediately to her knees. Shoving her hands into the coarse earth she began to dig, grimacing as grains of sand sank under her nails. She realized with slight dismay that the pits were deep enough that she couldn't see anyone else, and then her hand encountered something solid. She snatched it up, barely paying attention to the wooden block, and dragged herself out of the pit.

As she dashed across the small gap she realized with shock that the pieces were no more that blocks of wood set in ambiguous shapes, and that there were numbers on both sides. She dropped the piece down and sprinted back to her sand, heart pounding with nervousness and determination.

After she'd brought over five more blocks she dropped to her knees in front of her surface, trying to ignore the fact that Harry, Ron and Blaise had been arranging their pieces for a while now, and set about trying to put them together. She'd loved doing puzzles as a child so she was fairly confident in her ability to do well in the challenge. The only problem was ensuring that she had all the blocks in the first place.

"Done!" Harry stood up, raising his hands in the air, and she glanced up in shock, her heart giving a startled thump. Her eyes met Draco's, who was beside Harry. James examined Harry's surface, declared that it was finished, and shot a black cloth out of his wand to cover it.

Returning to her own with renewed vigour she took a deep breath, trying to think rationally. There were a lot of fours a fives, so she tried to find pairings that were less common and managed to slot together an 8 and a 1, a 2 and a 7, and a 3 and a 6. Realizing that she was missing pieces she hurried back to her pit. On her second trip over, sand shaking off her clothes with every step she took, Ron quickly shouted that he was finished as well and she couldn't stop herself from biting her lip in worry.

"Get a grip," she muttered as she accidentally stumbled on the return trip to the sand. Her knees were cold from resting on the damp ground and her clothes felt heavier from the various ways she'd been shoving the sand out of the way. _Am I missing something important? How did Harry and Ron finish so fast?_

She brought over two additional blocks, bringing her total to ten, and set to work slotting them together with shaking hands.

"Finished!" Draco yelled and stood by as Sheila declared that his, too, was correct. The unpleasant reality began to sink in that she could actually lose the competition and she squeezed her eyes shut. _Focus._ Adrenaline was pounding in her veins, but she could feel her concentration slipping with every second she spent dwelling on the potential consequences of loss and not enough on the challenge.

Until two pieces slotted together and her heart leapt to her throat. "Done!" She look up to where Sheila and James stood together, chatting amicably with each other, and rubbed her sand covered hands together as Sheila strode over. She leaned over, her hair brushing the top of Hermione head, and clucked her tongue. "Almost, but not quite."

"What?" Hermione's neck snapped to the side but she couldn't bring herself to wince. "But—but it's a square!"

"It's not complete."

"Hey!" Theodore was waving his hands to get the attention of Sheila and Hermione forced herself to keep from picking up the blocks and throwing them after her. She heard Pansy let out a frustrated squeal as Theodore stood to join the others who had finished the challenge.

_Not complete. _Hermione stared at the square, her brain on overdrive, trying to understand how she had put it together wrong—"I'm missing a block." She gasped out, stumbling to her feet and setting off on legs that were stiff from kneeling. The side of her sand pit was creased with her footprints and she nearly fell over as she jumped into it, her hands clawing at the sand. She'd never actually lost anything before, and the prospect frightened her.

It wasn't until she could feel tears of frustration and anger pricking at the corner of her eye that she found a long, narrow piece of wood in a pile of sand she'd discarded. Dragging herself from the pit for what she fervently hoped was the last time she tore across the divide and set about finishing the puzzle.

Blaise finished next and she couldn't resists casting a look at Pansy, who looked completely lost and was counting aloud. Trying to save the general structure of her square she flipped over some of the pieces, the sound of her breathing and the rhythmic pounding of her heart the only noise in her ears. And then—_yes._ She fit the piece in and the rest seemed to follow perfectly and she rocked back onto her heels, throwing a hand straight into the air. "I've—I've finished!" She called out, worrying her lip as James wandered over and carefully looked over her square.

"Indeed." He grinned at her and extended a hand to help her to her feet. A surge of relief shot through and she accepted the help, following him to where her housemates stood.

"How did you finish so quickly?" She directed the question to Harry, who was helping her swipe sand off her sweater.

"Magic," he answered and, as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, continued. "They didn't tell us we couldn't do it, so I _accio'd_ the blocks and then used a spell to detect the blocks that fit together."

"I can't believe I was so stupid!" She covered her eyes with her hand, ignoring the immediate regret when sad crumbled over her eyelashes. "I just adopted the no magic rule to _every_ challenge and now I've gone and _lost— _"

"If it's any consolation," Draco said to her from where he stood with Theodore and Blaise, "I didn't realize we could use magic until I saw Weasley putting his wand away."

"I didn't at all," Blaise said, glaring at the dirt beneath his nails. "But there was a pattern in the square numbers. The first row had one, two, three and four so the corresponding numbers decreased from eight, and—"

"Hearing you talk about math is giving me a headache," Theodore said pointedly and began to clap as Pansy finally completed the challenge. "Top notch job, Pansy!"

"Piss off," she snapped weakly, her shoulders slumped as she joined them. "That was awful."

Hermione gave her a small smile. "Apparently most of these boys only finished with magic, so at least you know you could do it unaided."

"I _did_ use magic!" Pansy wailed, shaking her head in an attempt to get the sand out of it. "I just couldn't figure out the right spell to help me put the pieces together once I got them out!"

Blaise snickered under his breath, but the laughter quickly died in his throat when he realized Pansy's wand was still in her hand. Theodore gave her a consoling pat on the back as Sheila and James, who had been talking in undertones a short distance away, came over to them. "We've compared the results to those from last night, and we have identified the bottom two!"

Any traces of smiles disappeared from the faces of the teenagers.

"The winner of the combined challenge was Ron," James beamed at him, pretending not to hear the startled choking of Draco. "Good work! Unfortunately, two of you didn't do so well as a total, and are being put up for elimination. Only the favour of the wizarding world can help you now."

"So," Sheila cut in, her manicured hands clutching a crisp white piece of paper. "The two of you who are completely at the mercy of our viewers are…Pansy and Hermione."

Hermione's heart sank.

Of course she should have expected it. And given her performance in the puzzle challenge, she had a bit. But it was still a blow to know that she had made such an effort to put herself in a situation where she'd had to ask for a boy's number, which she had never done before, and then dragged herself through gritty sand and struggled to put together a silly puzzle for nothing. Worse still was the fact that she knew countless spells that would have won her the challenge almost instantly, but either through her immediate assumption that magic was forbidden in all challenges, or considering it the equivalent of some form of cheating, it hadn't even crossed her mind to use her wand.

She listened to Sheila's talking in a sort of daze—they would have an interview in an hour in which she would respond to questions asked by viewers and prove she deserved to stay—and then returned to the house in silence.

Even though she showered and somehow managed to wash the grit out of her hair she still felt like rubbish. Shutting the door to her room firmly behind her, glancing at her pale blue name with faint annoyance, she lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

How interesting that a month ago the prospect of leaving the house would have been a gleeful one, but now it represented missed opportunity and isolation from her friends. Not to mention the galleon prize which, while she didn't necessarily _need _it, would have been amazing to win.

James came and led her out to the garden, where Sheila was waiting in the gazebo. Hermione settled herself on the wooden bench opposite them, grateful for the roof to keep the light rain from soaking through her clothes.

"Alright, there, Hermione?" Sheila asked her with a kind smile and Hermione nodded in response. "Great. So this interview consists of three questions. Answer them as honestly as you can, and then you have until tomorrow free. We'll drop by to reveal the results."

"So the first question." James cleared his throat and then enunciated clearly. "Why do you think you deserve to stay on the show?"

Hermione blinked once. "I think that as a member of my team I'm a very strong asset. Although in the last challenge I struggled, the difficulty I had was primarily because our group was divided by people who were using magic and those who weren't. I've also enjoyed most of my time on the show, and I think it would be a shame to have to say goodbye to my teammates. They're, erm, well they're very nice guys. If I do remain on the show, it would give us the opportunity to spend more time together and I can use my full potential in future challenges."

"Second question. What has been your favourite challenge thus far?"

Shaking off a smile she answered quickly. "I think the performing challenge, because it really pushed all of us to our limits but showed that we're capable of things we never thought we were. I'm a really firm believer in human potential, so it was nice to see everyone exercising theirs. Plus, Blaise has an amazing voice and the challenge was a really important moment for his career."

She wondered briefly if the people watching this would think she was ridiculously fake, even though she was being honest. Trying to figure out what other peoples' perceptions of her had always seemed like such a lost cause, so she gave up.

"Last question for now. As a viewer of The House of Hell, why do you think someone would vote for Pansy to stay and not you?"

_That's not a very fair question. _"Erm…Well, I suppose if you think she deserves to stay more than me you would vote for her…to stay. Maybe because our teams are unequal already."

Sheila waited an extra beat, giving her the opportunity to add anything else, and then smiled encouragingly. "Great. You can head back to the House, and we will see you tomorrow! Good luck!"

"Thanks," she murmured and hurried through the downpour into the House. The living room and kitchen were both empty as she passed through it and returned to her room. At the moment her bed was the softest, warmest, most comfortable thing she could find so she buried herself among blankets and closed her eyes.

After struggling to bring herself to accept the possibility of losing something she hadn't realized she would truly miss she rolled onto her stomach and curled around a pillow. Although it was still mid-afternoon her eyes fell shut and she let sleep tug her into its warm arms.

* * *

The next day Hermione woke early, fighting off the laziness that often accompanies oversleeping, and got dressed in a haze. Not entirely sure about when she would be called in for the results she drank a few cups of tea, made French toast, and then retreated to the sitting room to read a book she'd ordered in to accompany readings from a textbook she'd picked it up. It was there that Draco found her roughly an hour later.

"What are you reading?"

Hermione looked up as he sat down on the chair beside the couch. "It's called _Broken Fortress, Thrice Won._"

"Sounds, er, thrilling," he said, a grin sliding over his pointed face.

"It's about this woman during the Goblin Uprising of 1829," she said as she slipped a finger into the book so she could mark her page and stared at the cover. "It's a very typical girl sheds her female identity to go into war and ends up being an incredible asset. Everyone around her is trying to kill enough goblins that they retreat to their submissive roles in society, but she seeks reconciliation and greater communication between the two sides. It's based on a true story."

"She sounds a bit like you," Draco said, his eyes flicking to the cover and the dark haired girl who stared out the front. "Trying to bridge the gap between wizards and non-wizarding folk."

Hermione smiled at him. "That's why I chose to read it—to bring a more human perspective than the other readings I've done. But I'm not enjoying it as much as I thought I would."

"Why?" He pulled at his long-sleeved shirt, smoothing it over his chest.

She glanced at him briefly. "I expected her to be a stronger heroine. Instead she ends up relying a lot on her friend Gilbert—"

"_Gilbert_? Poor soul."

"_Yes_, Gilbert. She relies on him a lot and makes most of her decisions based on what he says. They have this sort of love affair building up right now, but it's so unrealistic and typical of writers who try to appeal to the fantasy of people who read love stories, not what probably actually would have happened." He was watching her with evident interest in his eyes, so she went on. "I mean, the first time she meets him is when he rides by and their eyes lock and she feels moved by him. I suppose that's fine, but given that he was trying to get an untamed horse under control and their eye contact lasted awhile it seemed silly. I just…I sometimes feel like writers brainwash people, a lot of them girls, into thinking that they can have this fairy tale perfect romance, and it's really not possible. So they spend their whole lives waiting for this perfect image of a man and miss a lot of opportunities."

"I always pinned you for one of those idealistic romantic types," Draco replied, his eyes fixed on the finger she had tracing the title on the cover.

"Sometimes I feel like I am. I think I'd like to be, I mean the world would seem so much nicer from the perspective of someone who believes in true, enduring love, wouldn't it?" He inclined his head. "It's just easy to be pessimistic, I suppose."

"When have you been one to go the easy way?"

Shaking off the absurdity of the conversation she shrugged, "Do you ever feel like people automatically assume you have all the characteristics of your House?"

He snorted. "Of course. That's because I am all things associated with Slytherin—cunning, intelligent, sly—"

"Evil? Cold?" Their eyes met and she raised an eyebrow. "They sort us into a House when we're 11, and it's like gaining a second family. But at the same time, they isolate us almost instantly from people in other Houses."

"House pride is one of the most important Hogwarts traditions." Draco said with a frown, as if she'd suggested Hogwarts immediately close down and be converted into a five star pig hotel. "It goes all the way back to the four Founders. The Houses celebrate peoples' differences."

"Mostly within the Houses, though. I hear comments _all_ the time about the rash Gryffindors, or the bookworm Ravenclaws, or the evil Slytherins—not everyone is exactly those things." Hermione tilted her head to the right as a smile quirked her lips up. "It's like an ideal type. People possess some, though not all, of the characteristics that can be used to effectively describe a group of people."

"So you're saying you're not brave, courageous, or rash? None of those things?"

Hesitating briefly before answering, she pushed her tongue between her teeth. "Some of us are. Harry, for example, is a great example of what you'd expect a Gryffindor to be. But there are more sides to him than that. He's also fiercely loyal and he accepts people for who they are, if they're genuinely good. But that's supposed to be a Hufflepuff trait, isn't it?"

"So you're saying that by dividing us into Houses, we're essentially being made into the one dimensional people that we're expected to be?" He asked as he folded his arms over his chest and tapped his fingers lightly over his forearm.

"Yes!" Her enthusiastic nodding seemed to take him by surprise.

"But if we're not sorted, I think a lot of people would miss out on the opportunity to surround themselves with people who understand them and accept them for their common traits. If someone who is in Ravenclaw only had Hufflepuff or Gryffindor friends, they might be made to feel strange for studying often." Draco met Hermione's eyes and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

Coughing and flushing, she ignored his look of half-concern, half-amusement. "I'm sure there are people in Ravenclaw who study less than I do, or you do. I'm not necessarily saying that Sorting should be stopped. I understand its importance to Hogwarts, and to tradition and there are obviously benefits." She shrugged, "I just think that while it encourages relationships it also discourages some, and it's not really beneficial that we're being taught that some qualities are associated with some people and it makes us less or more than them."

"If the relationship is worth it, I think people have it in them to try." Their eyes were still locked and she tried to rationalize the squirming inside her as a by-product of the approaching results and her possible elimination.

She couldn't help herself and dragged her eyes away, flicking them down to where her hands gripped her book. "Do you thin—"

"Hermione!" The sing-songy voice preceded Sheila by about one second and she poked her head in the door. "Hermione, it's time to go. We've gathered your teammates in the kitchen for you to say your potential goodbyes, because if you're eliminated you won't be returning at all."

"What about my things? I can't come back to collect them?"

"A representative will come to collect them." Sheila said with a smile, "So hurry along!"

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before following Sheila out of the room and back into the kitchen. She realized with regret that Harry and Ron were in the other wing of the house, and she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to them.

"Are you nervous?" Blaise asked her before he enveloped her in a hug.

"Erm, a bit." She answered with a laugh, her arms around his neck, and blinked rapidly to fight off the tears that threatened to blur her vision. Wishing she wasn't so emotional she made her way around the gathered semi-circle, smiling weakly at Draco after he'd dragged her into a hug.

"It's, ah, it's been interesting." She addressed her teammates, nodding so she had something to do. "If I don't come back I just want to say, thanks for everything. And, erm, good luck."

She and Pansy were taken outside, into the rain, and faced Sheila and James. One of the cars was parked close by, waiting for the eliminated girl to climb inside and be taken home.

"Hermione and Pansy," Sheila began with a smile. "The only two girls in the House. You both struggled in the puzzle challenge, and while Hermione did well in the social challenge it wasn't enough to save you from the bottom two. Will you please both put your wand hand on the front door?"

Trying to force down a bubble of laughter she pressed her hand against the door, watching water stream over her fingertips.

"The girl who is eliminated from The House of Hell…is…" James watched them expectantly and then the front door flashed a blinding white colour, the signatures of each person from the House appearing in blue script above their hands. "Pansy."

Pansy's name glowed brighter and then faded, leaving only six names in its wake. Gradually they, too faded, and Pansy quickly retracted her hand. Shooting her a confused look Hermione drew back her hand as well, slower.

"The door nearly burned me!" Pansy exclaimed, her eyes downcast as she looked at her hand.

"It's the magic of the show being lifted from you," Sheila informed her with a small smile. "If you girls would like to say a final goodbye, you have about thirty seconds. Otherwise, Hermione you may return to your teammates. They're waiting for you."

Turning to Pansy Hermione embraced her tightly. "Thanks for everything," Pansy whispered in her ear. "You're a lovely girl."

"You too," Hermione answered in surprise, pulling back and holding her at arm's length. She smiled, unsure if it was water or tears streaming down Pansy's face, and then stepped back as the Slytherin walked past her and, without a backwards look, climbed into the car.

Hermione twisted the door open and stepped out of the rain. Blaise was sitting in the same chair he'd been in when she'd left, his chin cradled in his hand. Theodore leaned against the wall and Draco was watching coffee filter through the coffee maker. She walked through the door, a smile on her face, and watched Draco's mouth fall open slightly, before the corner of his lips twitched up.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Blaise stood up and dragged Theodore along with him, tugging her into a hug. Draco came around the corner and slipped next to her, his hand falling to her waist. She turned up to look at him with a smile, her stomach giving a little flip-flop, acutely aware of the hand on her side.

It was there, in the House of Hell, with the arms of her Slytherin teammates wrapped around her, that she realized.

**Author's Note: So this ended up being 21 pages, and I feel significantly better about it. Also, I feel like letting you know that I have ordered the eliminations, and I would be highly entertained if you all told me your thoughts regarding what you think the order is.**

**Also, if any of you have any particular things you'd like a challenge to include (for example: skrillex, campfires, the French language or life size cut-outs of Matthew Gray Gubler) let me know. I would make an effort to include them in some shape or form.**

**HOH fun fact: Initially, during the road trip, I wrote this weird scene where Hermione takes her sadness about Jacob out by trying to seduce Blaise who, when I began this story started out as an inexperienced heterosexual, succumbed easily to her female prowess. The scene ended with Draco coming in on them kissing and being jealous and angry without realizing why. [It's amazing how bad ideas can seem three years in hindsight.]**

**So please review! Ask me any questions and I shall answer them to the best of my ability, just a reminder that I respond to all PMs and check my profile for poll updates! Cheers!**

**WAIT! I had to add this in last minute! But I'm looking for some new music and I'd love some recommendations! What are your favourite songs? Bands? And your favourite books, too? Other than Harry Potter, of course. Thanks!**


	27. Alert the Press

**Author's Note: I've gone back and edited some of the beginning chapters, and intend to continue to do so up until about chapter 10, I think. There are some inconsistencies in tone, mainly because the direction of the story was quite different when I first started it. I was setting up a situation that I can't remember anything about, right now. I've rewritten a fair bit of dialogue and downplayed some things. Nothing that requires re-reading, but if you choose to re-read it will be a nicer read. **

**I wrote a one-shot Dramione called Not Like the Movies. I'd love it if you'd check it out and let me know what you think. It's a playful, light sort of story that I wrote in a few days because I couldn't get the idea out of my head.**

**I am posting this chapter in honour of a) my 19****th**** birthday, which is today and b) you, for your continued support. This chapter has been cut in TWO, because it was quite mammoth and I have been struggling with the second part. I'm hoping posting this will spur me on to finish it up quickly.**

**IMPORTANT-I have the feeling a few of you may be skeptical about some of the goings on in this chapter. Keep in mind that Sheila and James will do **_**anything**_** to shake up the dynamic in the House and wring some drama, however reluctantly, from the people living there. I actually do have mixed feelings about this chapter, but in the end its what I intended, so here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

At the beginning of the summer it would have been enough of a change for Hermione to acknowledge that Draco Malfoy wasn't exactly Satan's incarnate and hadn't come from the deepest pits of Hell to torment Hermione and her friends. Even to admit that, as a person, he was actually kind of a good one once the crusty exterior was chopped through with something blunt and heavy, such as an anvil or a whale.

But to realize, with his arms around her, that her heart was beating and her stomach twisting in ways that were not the kind to be described as platonic was nothing short of a terrifying moment.

"Are you okay?" Blaise asked her when they pulled back. "You look like Moaning Myrtle just tried to give you a striptease."

She shook her head, the wet strands of hair falling around her face. "Yeah, I just…I suppose I didn't realize how quickly this could all end."

"Especially with Potter and Weasley as our competition. People aren't going to vote Potter off anytime soon, and Weasley is his best mate, so you can bet they'd like to keep him around." Draco said and she turned her eyes to the floor.

Theodore nodded, "Especially because there's only two of them. The teams are really unbalanced now."

"Maybe they'll put her on their team." Blaise jerked his head at Hermione, who turned to look up at him in alarm. "Turn it into a Gryffindor pitted against Slytherin thing."

"The entire show is obsessed with the idea of some kind of summer fling, or at least as much drama as they can wring from us." Draco shook his head. She could almost feel him watching her, perhaps wondering why she still refused to make eye contact. "I don't think they'd put her back with them."

"Obviously we're the best team. Our name has the word fuck in it, I'll bet people love saying it." Theodore let out a long, drawn out sigh and Blaise rolled his eyes at Draco. "You know, before I came on this show this summer was turning out to be _so_ boring, with you two in here."

Blaise wandered to the refrigerator and opened it, staring at its contents. "We'd have had you over as soon as the road trip ended."

"It was basically a month of loneliness and despair. Those were my darkest days," Theodore shuddered and followed Blaise, resting his head on his shoulder so he could peer over it into the fridge. "Even Pansy was in here, and she's just my backup friend."

"Don't be an arse," Draco said, but it lacked conviction and he yawned widely. Hermione found herself following suit, covering her mouth with her arm.

"I think I'm going to bed," she said, fluffing her hair from the back and twisting it over her shoulder.

"Me too," Draco said and joined her as she left the kitchen. They were silent for a few seconds and Hermione was acutely aware of the quick beating of her heart. "Have you noticed how the colours of our names change on our bedroom doors?"

"Yes," she answered, but said nothing more. She had her suspicions about what they signified, but didn't want to reveal it while they were approaching them together.

"I started thinking about it and I think it has to do with our moods or feelings," Draco said, his voice thoughtful. He seemed completely oblivious to her reluctance to talk and continued without pause. "They were the same colour after we won the challenge, and Theodore's always turns this ugly green when he's in a bad mood. And see, mine is pale blue now. It looked like that the other night before I went to sleep."

Hermione took a quick step in front of her door to cover her name, eyes a bit too wide. "Yeah, that could definitely be it. I haven't really thought much about it, so…"

His eyebrow quirked together, but he didn't say anything more on the subject. "Right. Well, goodnight then Granger."

"Goodnight." She smiled hesitantly at him and opened her door, back still pressed to the front of hers. It was only after he'd slipped through the door to his own bedroom that she stepped away, turning her eyes to her name. To her horror, veins of pink wove through the pale blue and light yellow there. Even though they hadn't been told what the colours represented, pink was universally symbolic.

Flushing, she hurried into her room and, in doing so, didn't bother to look and see what colours made up Draco's name.

* * *

She wasn't sure exactly what time it was that she next woke, but she knew that the only reason she'd awakened was the sound of muted shouting. Rubbing her eyes she pulled her blankets off her body and stumbled to the door, opening it with a small groan. The voices became moderately clearer after she'd done so and she realized they were coming from Theodore's room. Most of what they were saying was lost through the door and her own fatigue, but snatches made it through unscathed.

"-told me you'd _stopped_!" Although Hermione had heard the pair fight countless times, she'd never heard Blaise sound as angry as he did in that moment.

Theodore's voice rose and fell like a wave. "-do what I want!"

"-think that I'm going to stand by and—"

Hermione started as Draco's door opened across from her, his silhouette just barely visible in the dimly lit hallway. Her stomach constricted as she realized he, too, had obviously just come from bed and not only was his hair all mussed but he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Granger?" He mumbled, his voice pitched low. He was obviously sleepy, but he was holding his wand so she knew he was at least moderately awake. "What are you doing up?"

"Their shouting." Was all she said as an explanation. He nodded in response, his eyes heavily lidded and he waved his wand in the direction of the other room. The voices cut off and the house was silent once more.

"Silencing charm," he muttered unnecessarily, as she'd recognized the hand movement, and without another word returned to his room. Hermione followed suit, clambering onto her bed. In the morning she nearly didn't remember the entire incident, but what she did made her intensely curious and she almost wished Draco hadn't silenced them.

* * *

By noon the next day the entire House was gathered in the same small clearing in the garden that the other challenge had been announced in. The sky was a murky grey and seemed to be threatening rain, but was miraculously holding off. Harry and Ron both seemed pleased to see Hermione, even though they were now short two team members compared to The Bloody Fuckers.

"Hello, surviving house guests." James smoothed down the front of his shirt with a smile. "We've got some exciting news. We've consulted the viewers—"

"I think that 'the viewers' is just a pseudonym for yourselves so you can blame other people for your strange ideas." Theodore said without even blinking, his head cocked to the side. James seemed momentarily floored, so Sheila pressed on.

"Actually, we did consult the viewers on this one. And let me tell you, there are a lot of them." She moved closer to her husband and leaned against his arm. "We've got an exciting afternoon and evening planned for you guys. Tonight, you are going to be throwing a party!"

"Is this a challenge?" Ron asked in a slow voice, his eyebrows drawn together.

Both Sheila and James deflated when they noticed the unexcited expressions of the group before them. "No, it's for fun!" They were still silent, but Theodore's face was growing in happiness and Blaise was watching the changing expression with fascination. "The viewers have felt that you've been really stressed, especially with the recent elimination and Pansy being gone and such. So we've taken it upon ourselves to invite the guests. Consider it our treat to you, for being part of our successful show."

"Er, thanks." Harry said, his eyes fixed on the couple. "Are you going to tell us who you invited?"

James waved his hand around. "Oh, the usual. Most of your year at Hogwarts and ten people who entered a draw and won. Plus a few extras."

"Most of our _year_?" Hermione exclaimed, "How are they going to fit in the house?"

"Hermione, Hermione, Hermione. Magic, my dear." Sheila grinned at them. "Anyway. I doubt you six are aware, but this show has gotten an incredible amount of publicity, so tonight while the house is being prepared we're going to have a bit of a publicity event. We'll be putting you all through hair and makeup—"

"I am _not_ wearing makeup," Ron interjected, but they paid no attention.

"—and you'll be given a selection of clothing to pick. Then we're going to have the cars drive you to a location, where you'll be walking a red carpet—"

"A red carpet." Harry repeated flatly and was also ignored.

"—and we'll have a bit of an interview period with some fans who couldn't make it to the party. Any questions about that?"

"Is it mandatory?" Hermione asked, trying to imagine herself walking down a red carpet and failing miserably.

"Completely." James said and clapped his hands twice. "So you all need to report to your respective kitchens at 6 O'clock, and we'll get everything underway."

Sheila slipped her arm into her husband's. "In the meantime, live your youth to the fullest!"

* * *

"'Live your youth'?" Ron was snickering a few minutes later as he and Harry accompanied Hermione back into her section of the house. "They get weirder and weirder as time goes on."

"Do you ever get the impression that everything they do is a ploy to get some action in the show?" Harry asked them, holding the door open for both of them.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Hermione shrugged and dropped sideways into an armchair. "They said they invited most of our year. They're probably hoping for something to happen."

"Maybe they're going to randomly announce a challenge in the middle of everything," Ron speculated, yawning into his elbow. "To catch us off guard. Seems like something they'd do."

"I think they're just hoping that everyone will get completely smashed and, with lowered inhibitions, act like idiots." Hermione said, frowning when Ron yawned again. "Did you sleep last night?"

"He was out late," Harry said with a grin and Ron flushed in response. "With Andrea."

"Oh," she nodded, pausing. "How are things with you two?"

"She hasn't talked to you?" Ron asked and rubbed one of his red ears.

"No," Hermione said in response. "Probably because we're friends. She might feel awkward or something."

"Oh. Well. Good, er, you know. Really well." He bit his lip, eyebrows narrowing for a brief moment, and then sighed. "Something Pansy said—well, I can't really stop thinking about it."

"Before she left?" She prodded, when he didn't go on. "What did she say?"

"She was just—I dunno, asking me what I'm going to do when school starts or things like that. Like what if I get eliminated from the show? She can't very well come to my house or anything. Just—just things like that."

"Wasn't Seamus's dad a muggle, though?" Harry pointed out, "It can work out."

Hermione hesitated. "I've found it hard to explain some things to her, over the years. Like where I go to school, what I study, things like that. But I guess if you think it's worth it you can try to keep things up."

Ron nodded, staring at the armrest as if it held the answer. "I'm not giving up on things, it's just what I've been thinking about lately, is all."

The boys started talking about their letters from Hogwarts, which they'd gotten a day or so ago. Hermione sat in silence, thinking once more about the trouble it was to straddle the magic and muggle worlds. As soon as the conversation turned to their course books ("I've seen that book before, it's a _tomb_") Hermione joined in, smiling at her two best friends.

* * *

At five minutes to six Hermione found herself standing alone in the kitchen, wondering if her entire team had forgotten about the evening plans. Looking at the ticking clock on the wall she sat down in a chair, glancing over at the door when Theodore and Blaise walked in together. "You ready?" Blaise asked her, dropping into a chair by the table and Theodore slouched against a wall.

"Not really," She admitted, glancing at the clock. "Where's Malfoy?"

Blaise shrugged, watching Theodore. "I don't know."

She instantly wondered if she was being excessive in wondering why he wasn't there and tried to shrug nonchalantly. "Who cares? He'll show up eventually."

Theodore tilted his head to the side as he watched her, however Draco's entrance seemed to halt his train of thought. He gave the group a brief smile, checking his watch, and then Sheila floated into their room. "Ah, right on schedule." She cast a quick look around the room. "We have teams waiting for each of you in separate locations, so Hermione we'll set you off first. Don't worry, though, you'll all be reunited on the red carpet."

Hermione cast a look over her shoulder as she left, not cheered up at all by the prospect of the circumstances of their reunion, and settled into the car waiting for her outside. The ride was short and she found herself nearly bombarded by the group of people waiting for her inside the hotel she was ushered into. Resisting her immediate urge, which was to make a hasty exit, she followed them to the sink and complied with their requests.

In two hours her hair was washed, conditioned and twisted into some kind of up-do that she hadn't been able to see because of the absence of a mirror. She'd been given a French manicure and pedicure and her face had been exfoliated and makeup applied to its clean surface. The dress they presented her with was gorgeous—a floor length blue with a white length of lace twisted around just under her bust and extended up to her shoulders to act as straps.

After she'd been completely made up she was once again led back to the car and driven to what she could only assume was where the red carpet was waiting. The first thing she heard as the car began to slow down was screaming—shrill screaming. It was at that point that her heart began to pound in her chest and she took a few breaths to steady herself, craning her neck in an attempt to see out the windows.

The car came to a full stop and the cheering increased. As Hermione reached for the door it opened for her and she stepped out, nearly blinded by flashing lights. A wave of noise rocked into her and for a brief moment she considered climbing right back in the car and heading back to the house, but her determined will steadied her and she began to walk through the middle of the cordoned off carpet. People pushed against each other and she shot a nervous glance towards them, but tall men dressed in black that she recognized from their first day were patrolling up and down the sides and called out warnings to them.

"Hermione! Hermione!" A girl to her right was shouting and Hermione turned, smiling weakly in her direction. People were holding out pieces of paper and pens, shaking signs that said things like 'We Heart Harry Potter' and 'Marry Me Draco?' As she neared the end of the red carpet Hermione spotted the rest of her teammates gathered together, and they turned to face her as the flurry of attention caught their eyes.

Although her better judgement told her _not_ to look right at Draco she did anyway, her heart thudding extra hard for a couple beats and she couldn't tell if her smile was forced or not. His eyes ran down her once and the corners of his lips turned up even more, but other than that his reaction was hardly noticeable. She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not.

"Let's ge' a group shot, right!?" A man was shouting and waving his hands together. She fell into step beside Blaise and smiled in the direction of the flashing lights until Theodore, who was on the far side of the group, hurried off and the rest followed suit.

As soon as they were inside the doors Sheila was upon them, her hair done up, eyes literally sparkling with shimmery eyeshadow and a figure-hugging dress on. "Hello, teammates! You all look _lovely_—my gosh Hermione you're stunning! Isn't she gorgeous, boys?"

Draco coughed and nodded. "Yeah. She's, ah, very nice."

"Right this way." Sheila strode down a hallway at a brisk pace, the curls around her face bouncing in stride, and ushered them into a small room. "We'll have someone collect you in about ten minutes for the question period, which will only last about half an hour."

"Alright," Blaise said, because the rest of the team didn't seem inclined to speak. Hermione had leaned with her back against the wall, eyes falling shut as the noise and energy from outside faded. With a wink Sheila disappeared out the door, heels clicking.

"I don't know how you Gryffindors do it." Theodore said with the shake of his head, tugging at his robes.

"Do what?" Hermione asked, opening her eyes.

"All the attention." Theodore was playing with the two ends of his tie now. "I don't know why all you Gryffindors want it."

"_Want _it?" She repeated, staring at him. He remained oblivious to her less than favourable reaction, pulling at his tie. "Trust me, we do _not_ want it. I mean, some Gryffindors might, but I certainly don't. Nor do Harry, or Ron. That out there—_that_ was a nightmare!"

"Oh for _Merlin_'_s _sake, Theo." Blaise strode over to his friend and took Theodore's tie into his hands, fixing it up. Theodore looked up in consternation, but otherwise didn't address his friend.

"You don't really think we like the attention?" Hermione continued, although she wasn't positive she was being listened to.

"During fourth year you were always in the papers," Theodore said, attempting to shrug but was stilled by Blaise. "Potter's always got people staring at him. And signing photographs—"

"That was a few years ago," she corrected. "And he didn't want to sign them, it was all miscommunication. And being in the papers was hardly our fault, when it was you lot feeding them the information."

"Oh, that's right." Theodore stepped back and away from Blaise's fussing hands. "I forget Draco has always been such a prick."

Draco, who up until that moment had been watching the proceedings with a steady gaze, glanced at her. "I always assumed you loved the attention, and it was an act that you didn't."

"That doesn't explain why you tried to give us more, if you were angry about that." Hermione pointed out, a prickly feeling running up and down her arms. She and Draco had never addressed the errs from the past, and doing so now seemed awkward and somewhat daring.

"I think the plan was to make you miserable by giving you the wrong sort of publicity," Draco said in response, a wry smile stretching his lips. "Besides, a lot of us thought you and Potter were secretly together for awhile, or at least on the way. We wanted to make you miserable."

"When he says we," Blaise began, smoothing his hands over Theodore's shoulders and flicking off dust specks, to Theodore's distaste, "he's mostly referring to himself. I couldn't have cared less how you felt, and Crabbe and Goyle just went along with it."

"Stop that," Theodore muttered, stepping away and pushing back against Blaise's hands. "We can safely conclude that Draco was a prick, Blaise claims he was indifferent and apparently you Gryffindors aren't actually attention-whores. Glad we got that covered."

"Never one to dwell, are you?" Blaise said with an affectionate smile, beginning a slow walk around the room.

Theodore shrugged. "There's no point in spending so much time talking about the past. Binns does that enough for everyone, let's not all suffer."

Hermione laughed aloud and then lapsed into comfortable silence. Shortly afterward Mitchell stuck his head in the door, dressed considerably better than he had for their night at the club. "Hello, again. Can you four follow me? Quickly now, thanks."

He led them through a door that led down a long hallway, boxes of what looked like electronic equipment piled near doors. People wearing headsets walked by every once in awhile and didn't blink when they saw the teenagers. At last they came to another door with the words STAGE LEFT on them. The sounds of hundreds of people whispering, the occasional cough and shifting could be heard through the door.

"Alright, so we're going to order you like this—Hermione first, Draco, Theodore and then Blaise. Yeah—yeah that's right, get in line. Okay, so I'm going to cast a _sonorus _on you all now, keep quiet or they'll hear. Yep, perfect. Just wait here until the signal, and then walk up on stage and take your seats in the chairs up there." Mitchell spoke quietly and quickly and then pressed his hand to his ear, muttering softly.

Hermione dearly wanted to ask what the signal was, but couldn't for fear of accidentally bellowing. She exchanged a look with Draco, who stood beside her, and then Mitchell was back and nudging her through the door. The crowd that was gathered in the large room jumped to their feet and started cheering as soon as they walked in and she resisted the urge to shy away from it. Climbing the stairs to the stage she spotted the long table they were to sit at. There were six chairs and a water bottle in front of each one. At the end of the table sat Sheila and James, who both clapped as they took their seats.

"Welcome, teammates!" Sheila spoke over the noise and gradually the cheering died away. "We're going to begin this little question period by having each of you introduce yourselves to the crowd. Go ahead."

They went swiftly down the table and gave their names. "Great," James said and turned back to the audience, a smile firmly fixed on his face. "We've got quite the group gathered here, but unfortunately we only have half an hour with each team. So we'll begin with the questions right now. Without further ado."

People who obviously worked for the show were lining the walkways and seemed to be supervising a group lined up against the wall. The girl at the front walked forward until she stood in the middle of the aisle and looked at Blaise. "This question is for Blaise," she spoke clearly. "I was wondering when we can expect your first record out."

Blaise looked genuinely flattered and leaned forward a bit to answer. "We don't have a definite date set, yet. But production is going very quickly and we're hoping for a really quick release. Probably late September."

The girl started walking back to her seat and then a boy stepped forward. "First, I just want to say I love the show. Yay House of Hell!" He lifted his hands in the air and the crowd cheered. "So I have a question for Hermione. What's it like being Harry Potter's best friend?"

"Erm," she felt rather taken aback and looked at her teammates as if they could answer for her. "Well, much the same as it feels for you to have a best friend, I'm sure. It's nice, erm, Harry's a wonderful person."

"I'd like to ask Blaise this question," the next girl asked, her red hair piled atop her head like a pineapple. "Do you think you would have tried to get into music if you hadn't come on the show?"

Blaise paused before responding. "I'm not sure. I've always loved music, and singing and writing of course. But I never really thought anyone would want to hear me do it, to be honest. I never thought of it as a viable career path for me."

"This question is for all of you," a younger girl with rather large eyes said when she moved to the front. "Who is your favourite Hogwarts professor and why?"

Blaise began, "I really like Professor Flitwick. He's very nice and has good energy for teaching." He then turned to look at Theodore, who was to his right.

"I always liked Trelawny." Theodore announced, to the surprise of most. "She's cool. She knows how it is."

"Severus Snape." Draco spoke immediately. "He's a fantastic professor and very dedicated to his craft. Quite talented."

Hermione, who'd spent the last minute frozen with indecision, realized it was her turn. "That's a tough one. I really respect Professor McGonagall, she's very fair and quite accomplished. But Hagrid is lovely, as well. He's so passionate about what he teaches. Oh, and Professor Sinistra is great. Although Professor Flitwick is very knowledgeable, too. It's so difficult to choose just one," she finished helplessly, smiling sheepishly.

"Draco, if there was one person on your team that you would date, who would it be?" Hermione barely noticed the freckly girl until the question had been asked and the audience fell into total silence. Her heart thudded and she kept her smile fixed on her face, turning slightly to look at him.

Pausing as if in thought he looked up and down both sides of the table. "Theodore," Draco finally concluded. "I am so attracted to his sarcastic wit and cruel tongue."

The audience laughed and Hermione chuckled along, giggling when Theodore furthered the joke by flicking his hair and batting his eyelashes in their direction. However, despite the blatant joking she couldn't keep her mind from racing and wondering about the implications of his decision. Draco was heterosexual, so the only person he reasonably would have wanted to date would have had to have been Hermione. Perhaps he felt awkward about saying he would date Hermione even though logically it was really the only choice. But then, what would make him feel so awkward about going along with the most reasonable choice? Was he trying to avoid playing into the fantastical clutches of the viewers, or was there something else?

_Maybe I'm overthinking this way too much._ Shaking her head she turned back to where a middle aged man was walking forward. "I'd just like to ask this question to all of you. You all seemed very distressed when you first came on the show, but later chose to stay. What was your reasoning behind that choice?"

"Ooh, that's a good one." James interjected. "Hermione, let's go to you."

"Okay," she nodded, gathering her thoughts. "Well, my two best friends are here, although they're not on my team. I also began to see this as an opportunity to bridge the gap between myself and some of the other people on the show. I started to really get along with them, and I think in the end the idea of what I was missing out on kept me from leaving."

Draco watched her intently and when she made it clear she was done speaking he turned back to the front. "Yeah, that was my rationale. It's sometimes easy to forget that we're being filmed until we're confronted with evidence of it, like now, because we can't see the cameras. I suppose I was getting pretty happy with how things were."

"That's true." Blaise was nodding and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together on the table. "I was incredibly happy when they were asking us to stay—we'd won the challenge, Theo'd been invited on…I'm sure that had a part to play. If they'd asked while we'd been in a bad mood the results might've been different."

"I'd decided to come on the show before I knew they were being given the choice to leave," Theodore said after hesitating momentarily. "So really I just wanted to be with my friends."

"That's so sweet," the man said with a beam before going back to his seat, and Theodore recoiled as if horrified by the prospect of being identified as sweet.

"Hey guys!" The next girl said, waving excitedly. "I just want to say I'm a _huge_ fan. I've seen every episode more than once and I've started this forum and group that meets once a week and—"

"Please remember we have a limited time frame to answer as many questions as possible," Sheila cut in with a syrupy smile.

"I was getting there." The girl glared and then turned back to the house mates, her smile returning instantly. "So _basically_ what we've all been wondering for awhile is Hermione and Draco, when will you two be getting together?"

Hermione felt herself flush and desperately hoped that it wasn't very noticeable. She looked at Draco, who had pressed his lips together, and took the liberty of replying on their behalf. "Erm, it's safe to say that nothing is happening between us. I'm sure that the editing of the show is cut to make things look different than they are in real life. I have nothing against Malfoy here but that's, ah, not something that's going on."

"Nor is it something that will ever be going on," Draco added without looking at her and she felt herself flush once more. Even though it would be a massive exaggeration to claim that she was utterly smitten with him, hearing him say the words so casually felt like someone was pinching her very, very tightly.

The girl looked ridiculously disappointed. "Maybe not yet. But someday."

"No, I don't think so." Hermione said quickly, to make sure that she and Draco showed the same amount of dissent to the idea. "We're really just fine with how things are now."

"But you don't know how things could change," the girl went on and then James let out a sigh beside Hermione and the girl was ushered away by one of the workers from the show.

"Please remember that we take questions, not harassment. Next." Sheila said, as if she was used to seeing people forcibly led away.

"There's been a lot of speculation regarding the nature of Theodore and Blaise's relationship." The next woman looked like a reporter, with a cameraman standing behind her and a notepad in her hands. "The question on almost everyone's lips is whether or not Theodore is gay."

Theodore continued to watch her without speaking, and after the silence stretched on Blaise elbowed him. "I'm still waiting for the question," Theodore said finally, looking down his nose at her imperiously.

"How would you respond to these questions?" The woman pressed, and both Sheila and James were watching keenly so Hermione had the feeling this reporter wouldn't be ushered out for taking up too much time.

"To be honest, I don't much care what people think I am." Theodore said in an even voice and Hermione couldn't resist a smile at his nonchalant attitude, although her own curiosity was somewhat piqued. "I don't think all of Britain needs to know about my love life."

"Actually, the show is airing all across the U.K., and in bits of America and Canada." Sheila interjected, "Just a note."

The woman scribbled into her notebook. "So you're gay? Are you and Blaise in a relationship?"

"I'm not gay, not that it's your business." Theodore said in a sharp voice. "Blaise and I are good friends. That's all."

There was more murmuring in the crowd and Hermione realized with a start that this was something that seemed to have garnered a lot of interest. She hadn't really thought of the pair in that way, or at least not seriously, and she looked at Blaise's small, polite smile curiously.

"And Blaise, how do you respond to that claim?" The woman asked, and the people in line behind her seemed torn between irritation for her time consumption and intrigue at the answers to the questions.

Sitting up just a bit straighter Blaise shrugged. "I'm sure as a viewer of the show it would be difficult to distinguish between clever editing and what is actually going on, but Theodore is right. Just like Hermione and Draco, our friendship has probably been misrepresented as suggesting something more. I love Theo—but we're just friends."

At last the woman and her reporter left the lineup, but Hermione was hardly paying attention. She watched her house mates, Blaise in particular, and couldn't resist wondering how similar Theodore and Blaise's relationship was to her and Draco's. Perhaps he was making the claim from a position of ignorance, but if it was the same then Blaise wasn't speaking from an entirely platonic perspective.

"Hermione, what are your future ambitions?" The next question started her out of her thoughts and she looked up from the table.

"I haven't completely decided what I'd to do after Hogwarts," she said after a moment. Draco was drinking from his water beside her and she looked away so she wouldn't be caught staring at the long line of his neck. "I'd love to do some work in the relationships between wizarding and non-wizarding folk. It's not a very well represented field and there's a lot of work that needs to be done. However, I'd also like to look into the changes I can make through law. Whatever I do I'd really like to help people. That's something I've always been interested in doing."

Answering questions about her life was like listening to herself talk in a much more filtered, polite fashion. While Theodore didn't seem to have any qualms about being rude, though she understood his motivation for doing so given the intrusive questions they'd been asking, she almost felt like she was in a job interview and she should put her best foot forward.

"Draco, what has been your favourite moment from the show so far?"

As Draco explained that he'd enjoyed testing himself and his ability to adapt to different situations Hermione took a gulp of water to soothe her throat. There was no clock in the room and she had absolutely no idea how much time had passed.

"Theodore, you're always sending and receiving letters with packages in them," the next person began. "Do you have a girlfriend off the show that you haven't told anyone about?"

Hermione resisted the urge to frown and tilted her head, watching both Draco and Blaise do the same thing. Theodore tensed, and then a small smile broke out across his face. "No, I've just been keeping in touch with family and friends from off the show."

Blaise continued to watch Theodore with a calculated stare even as Hermione answered the next question about whether or not she was fine with Andrea and Ron dating. "They're both my friends," was her answer. "I want them both to be happy, and if they can do so together I'm fine with it."

"Blaise I really want to say that I love your voice," a brunette said, rocking back on forth on her heels. "The show has been showing the clips from your studio work, and there's one song in particular that's very emotional. I'm curious—have you ever been in the kind of love you describe in your music?"

Blaise turned his head to the left, as if looking at the wall and not the audience helped him think. He nodded once. "Yeah, I have."

A wave of whispers rolled through the room as the next girl approached the front. "So I have a game sort of question for all of you to answer. You have to pick someone from your team who you would shag, marry, and whose heart you would break."

Hermione blinked. "That doesn't sound like a very fun game!"

"Well," the girl smiled in an apologetic but uncompromising way. "The usual one is shag, marry, kill."

"Yeah, I think we'll stick with the first one." Blaise said with a grin, and then hesitated. "Well, I think I would probably marry Theodore."

"I knew you couldn't resist me!" Theodore crowed and threw an arm around Blaise's shoulder, pressing his forehead against Blaise's ear.

"Only because if I didn't, he probably wouldn't get another shot." Blaise continued with a grin. Theodore pulled his head back and frowned. "And I guess I would break Hermione's heart. I figure that with Weasley and Potter as friends she's got a good chance of getting through it. What was the last one? Oh, right. I'd shag Draco."

Draco snickered and rested his head on his hand. Hermione was trying to simultaneously pay attention while also figuring out who she would pick for each of the options. Of course she obviously didn't want to marry any of them, despite the less-than-platonic feelings she harboured for Draco. But would it be too obvious if she said she would marry him? Marrying Blaise would only result in the complete unhappiness of both parties, and marrying Theodore would be like living every other day in Greenland and Hawaii. But then this wasn't supposed to be given as serious a consideration as she was giving it.

"I think I'd break Granger's heart, too." Theodore said and waved cheerfully at her, his arm still around Blaise. "That way when I screw Draco, too, and then marry Blaise it won't put an awkward strain on our friendships."

"I suppose I'll have to swoop in and mend Granger's broken heart, then." Draco said with a smirk, glancing towards her. "Nothing much else seems to be going for her. So then I'll shag Theodore, and I'll break Blaise's heart. Maybe we'd get some good music from it."

The group all turned to look at her and she wasn't quite sure of where to look—at her teammates or at the audience. "I don't think I have much say in the matter," she said and laughed in what she hoped was a good natured way. "I'll marry Malfoy, then, and hope we don't both go crazy. I'll break Theodore's heart, because Blaise's has already been destroyed. And I suppose I'll go with Blaise. For the, ahm, shagging."

"That would be interesting," Blaise said and grinned at her with a wink.

"Do you think returning to Hogwarts will be awkward at all?"

Hermione opened her mouth to instinctively say no and then paused to consider. Difficult as it was to imagine her school peers regarding her in some kind of new, impressive light she supposed there would probably be a few people who treated them differently.

"I think that by now we know who our friends are," Blaise said, "So if people treat us rudely we'll just let it go."

The girl who'd asked the question frowned, her eyes flicking to where Sheila and James sat. When the couple didn't speak she opened her mouth once more. "No, I mean awkward because of how many fans you have now. This show is so popular."

"Er, really?" Blaise turned to look at Hermione and Draco, who shrugged.

"That actually marks the half hour," James interjected, "And is the perfect segue into the next section. We've actually got short video that is going to show you what the rest of the world has been seeing, and what may be to come for your team."

The lights immediately dimmed and a large white screen projection appeared on the wall to Hermione's left. She shifted slightly in her seat so she wouldn't have to crane her neck to look as casual, tinkering guitar and piano music filled the room.

"_Welcome to the House of Hell._" A voice on screen intoned over clips of the six original houseguests arriving. It immediately flashed to a clip of Harry and Ron as they strode out onto the Quidditch Pitch, brooms over their shoulders.

"_I'm _not_ becoming their friends—I don't even want to see them."_ Ron was saying as Harry nodded in agreement.

"_Must be nice for you to live in something this luxurious, Weasley." _Pansy looked down her nose at Ron. _"Oh, that's right—the lap of luxury for you is anything better than that rat hole you live in, isn't it? I suppose a cardboard box would've been a step up."_

Blaise and Harry walked by each other in the hallway, taking a wider berth than necessary to avoid making contact.

"_I'm sure they'll think they own the place."_ Pansy said, her arms folded over her chest. _"It'll be just like Hogwarts, with them running around here._"

Draco and Hermione walked into each other in the hallway. _"Watch where you're walking, Granger."_

"_I know what the best bit about living here must be for you, Malfoy." _Harry snapped, _"At least if Aurors raid _this _house they won't find all sorts of illegal objects downstairs."_

It flicked to various clips of Hermione reuniting with her old classmates, their exclamations used as voice overs (_"You look different." "Whoa, I haven't seen you since you left for school!" "So… what exactly happened to you?"_)

"_To the pool!"_ In slow motion Hermione was thrown from the arms of Todd and went flying into the pool, her hair streaming behind her like a tattered banner, the splash from the pool releasing white foam into the air.

"_Professor, Professor! I know the answer Professor! Let me lick your shoes Professor! Ooh, please Professor! " _Pansy waved her hand in the air, rocking back and forth on her feet, as Draco and Blaise laughed.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat on the grass, Harry speaking while Ron plucked and tugged the grass with his fingers. _"I don't understand why people care so much about my life. It's not like I chose for all this to happen."_

Draco scoffed in Blaise's direction. _"Don't be ridiculous. If Granger and I had children they would be incredibly intelligent."_

"_She's _not_ my girlfriend."_ Harry snapped at Draco.

"_We're not friends."_ Pansy said to Hermione, gesturing between them.

Blaise leaned inside a door frame_. "Ron is actually an alright bloke."_

"_I've never had a muggle friend before." _Pansy murmured to Hermione.

"_We're sending you on a road trip."_

Blaise was sitting in the confession box in their car, leaning forward on his elbows. _"I think…Well, I think we're all ready for a change."_

The music stopped for a long moment and Blaise's image hovered on screen, before it renewed with a new and lighter vigour. The first clip was Hermione being dragged out of the pool by Jacob.

Blaise lay sprawled over a bed with charcoal sheets, Pansy beside him. _"I just really miss him."_

Jacob grinned at her. _"I've always liked you anyway."_

"_What is so wrong with my blood?" _Hermione asked Draco, her voice scratchy.

"_How long have you been going?" _The woman at the hotel asked them, her eyes surveying their disheveled appearances.

"_About a full day."_ Hermione answered in a distracted way. The gum dropped from the woman's mouth.

"_My parents disowned me last year before Christmas and Draco offered me a room in Malfoy Manor." _ Blaise said sharply and Hermione's jaw dropped.

"_That's horrible."_

"_That's life." _Blaise said in response, turning his head away.

Hermione and Jacob had their lips pressed together as the beginnings of rain began to fall. Hermione and Draco were in their overturned car, Blaise the bird squawking inside with them. _"Help her first!" _Draco was shouting to the people who'd gathered round, gesturing towards where Hermione lay.

Draco gazing at Hermione from across the car, his eyes serious. _"Yeah. We're okay." _

Draco was sent soaring over Sensei Joe's burly shoulders. The house guests stood in a line practicing the 'jab' and 'reverse' techniques they had been taught.

"_Draco, I'm pregnant!" _

Hermione had her phone pressed against her ear, her eyebrows drawn together. _"When is he coming back?"_

"_Draco Malfoy,"_ Hermione said to Jacob, her eyes sliding from his face. A shot from the perspective of a side profile of Hermione's face showed Draco watching her. "_I think it's a family thing."_

Theodore burst through the doors and was pulled into a group hug with Hermione, Draco and Blaise. Draco dove into the lake, sliding through the surface of the water. Blaise shook Harry's hand. Theodore grimaced as he sprinted. Hermione slid down the side of the boat's wall, eyes closing._  
_

"You dis_gust_ me," Hermione said as she shone her wand in Draco's direction. Then Draco and Hermione were sitting together at the breakfast table, Draco watching her from under his eyelashes as she mouthed the words to the Prophet's article she was reading.

"_Of course I do. You're my best mate." _Theodore said to Blaise, his eyebrows raised in earnest.

Hermione and Blaise sang 'I Kissed a Girl' in their car. It slowly transitioned to her singing it on stage. Blaise slinked across the stage to where Theodore had been brought to stand. Blaise's lips were centimetres away from Theodore's ears as Hermione and Draco danced in the background. Hermione and Draco laughed together, their eyes locked.

"_It's hard to be this way."_ Blaise said to Hermione, leaning forwards on his elbows.

"_The biggest mistake I made this summer was getting to know you." _Draco snapped at Hermione.

Blaise watched Theodore evenly. _"I'm worried for you."_

'_A British sensation…' _A voice intoned as a camera panned over a large crowd of screaming fans.

Theodore sat in the middle of a colourful flower bed, stroking the petals of a red flower, Blaise crouching beside him. _"It's like there's this massive disconnect that I just can't bridge—between two opposite sides of myself."_

'_That will change the way you view these teenagers…'_

Hermione danced with a boy in the club, a drink clutched in her hand. Blaise had his hands woven through another boy's hair as they kissed.

'_Forever.'_

A series of flashing clips came in quick succession—Draco and Blaise flying their brooms, Hermione and Theodore smiling, Blaise hugging Theodore, Draco with his hand on Hermione's shoulder.

The screen went dark and the room erupted in cheers. Hermione felt yet another flush flood her face, and this time she couldn't manage anything other than a half smile as she averted her eyes from Draco. The clip had only been a couple minutes and seemed to highlight—even provide evidence, almost, for every single thing that was being speculated about in regards to her relationship with Draco.

Draco was sitting tensely beside her and she couldn't bring herself to look at her teammates as they were ushered from the stage and led out a door opposite the one they'd entered the room in.

"That was very strange," Blaise said, an awkward lilt to his voice. "I didn't realize…how realistic they could make the things seem."

"I can kind of understand why Potter never liked the attention," Theodore said as they strode down the hallway and were led through another door. It opened into the parking lot, where their car was waiting for them. "So invasive. I forgot I was saying things in front of a camera."

"Quite scary, really." Draco said in a strange voice, as if he was watching a boggart approach him very, very slowly but was perilous to stop it.

* * *

When they arrived back at the House they were corralled back to their rooms, preventing them from seeing anything, and told to change their clothes to something more suitable for a casual gathering. Hermione re-emerged ten minutes later, after changing her clothes and mentally preparing herself for the rest of the night, and was nearly bowled over by the changes to the House.

Their kitchen table was gone completely and the countertops were covered in food, drinks and punch bowls. The lights were dimmed and gave off red tones, blue and purple streamers decorated the ceiling and there appeared to be pockets on the ceiling that shot out puffs of glitter at random intervals. Women dressed in purple frocks carried trays of drinks while men in black and blue offered finger foods around.

"Hermione!" Lavender and Parvati rushed over to her, their arms linked. "Oh, Hermione, it's so good to see you!"

"Hello!" She said back, perhaps her first genuine smile of the day stretching her lips. "How are you? It's so good to see you!"

"My summer has been completely dull," Lavender informed her, whisking a small sandwich off a passing tray. "Mum's already trying to get me to prepare for the school year, it's dreadful."

"But tell us how _you_ are!" Parvati said, wringing Hermione's hand. "We've been watching every week! But don't worry, we don't believe _everything_ that's on the show."

"Oh good," Hermione said, accepting a piece of bread with some kind of dip spread over it. "That's such a relief, because—"

"_We_ know that you're not pregnant with Theodore's baby," Parvati said, looking over her shoulder with squinted eyes.

Hermione's eyes widened and Lavender burst into a fit of giggles. "Oh, Hermione, you're just the same! Of course they're not trying to push that, it would be a bit difficult to sell, wouldn't it?"

"Oi! Seamus! Dean! Get over here!" Parvati waved her arm in the air to catch the attention of the two males standing a bit far off and they made their way over.

"Hermione!" Seamus exclaimed, beaming.

"Hi boys," she said with a grin. "Seamus I swear you've got more freckles than ever."

"That's what I keep telling him," Dean told her, patting Seamus's shoulder. "Sooner or later he'll turn into one giant freckle."

"Oh, shut up," Seamus replied with a mock frown. "Come over, Hermione, come see the rest of us! Our whole year must be here, at the very least."

Draco, Blaise and Theodore stood chatting with Pansy, who waved cheerily when she saw Hermione go by. Blaise winked at her in greeting, but Draco either didn't notice his friends addressing her or noticed and didn't care, because he looked straight on.

They'd passed through the kitchen into the living room, where the television set had been replaced by a stereo and the couch moved against the wall. The decorations were much the same, except with the glitter puffs on the walls as well. A group of students from her year stood and she greeted them merrily.

"Alright there, Hermione?" Neville asked her as the group's attention was diverted.

"Oh, hello, Neville." She managed to get out of the way before a rather large dose of glitter was sent straight to her face.

Seamus burst into laughter as Neville made a good effort at wiping the corner of her chin as clean as he could get it. "Thanks, I'm really alright," she said, shouting slightly to be heard over the noise.

They'd only been chatting for a few minutes when Harry and Ron walked through the door joining back to their side of the house. Seamus let out a loud roar and hastened over to pat them on the backs, exclaiming loudly at Ron's finally having gotten a girl.

"Hello everyone!" Ginny appeared from behind a crowd of Ravenclaws and smiled around at them, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Been enjoying living with my idiot brother, Harry?"

"So how bad is it?" Hermione asked Neville as the group's attention was occupied. "The show? Do we come off as awful?"

"Hm?" Neville turned back to her, leaning in to hear. "Oh, no not at all. If anything you come off as even more intelligent!"

"But I mean, do I seem like…well does it really seem like Malfoy and I, erm, get on?" She finally asked, biting her lip.

"You seem to be getting along very well," Neville said in answer, a smile playing out over his lips.

"Neville! You know what I mean—does it seem like I fancy him at all?" She finally asked desperately and he grinned at her.

"A bit, but it's all in the camera shots and that. Anyone with half a bit of sense will know it's not real." She obviously didn't seem at all reassured and he squeezed her shoulder. "Come on, Hermione. Just relax and enjoy the night."

For the most part, she did. Being reunited with all her classmates was a glimpse at being back at Hogwarts, except everyone was dressed in their own clothing and getting progressively drunker as the night wore on. However, even as she was surrounded by her fellow Gryffindors and being regaled by Seamus's exaggerated stories there was a lingering awkwardness nagging at her consciousness. Not because of her friends—they were the same as always and could very well have been picked up and dropped into the Gryffindor Common Room after a Quidditch victory. No, the awkwardness was in the lack of communication between her teammates and her.

Some of it was definitely a result of the fact that she hadn't really been this separate from Draco or Blaise for at least a month so she was noticing their lack of presence. But the fact that Draco had passed by her a couple times and shown absolutely no recognition of her presence—while Blaise and even Theodore did—was odd and kind of twisted her in a way she wasn't fond of.

"Hello teammate!" Theodore threw an arm around her shoulder and smiled around at all her friends, who went quiet and watched him warily.

"Theodore you smell like alcohol," Hermione said and wrinkled her nose with a laugh.

"It's my new cologne," he informed her. "I put it on just for you."

"Did you?" She asked as Neville snickered beside her. "Well, I'm honoured. Er, Theodore you remember everyone from Hogwarts?"

He looked around the group, quirking an eyebrow. "Vaguely. It's just this blur of red and gold. Introduce us."

"Right, well. This is Neville—"

"Ah, Nev my good chap! How are you?" Theodore shook his hand merrily, turning expectantly to Harry.

Hermione was laughing as she pointed around their small circle. "Harry and Ron, obviously. Seamus, Dean, Lavender and Parvati. The Gryffindors from our year."

"It's a pleasure," Theodore said and launched into a one sided conversation about pygmy puffs that eventually had everyone laughing and contributing in some way. Blaise joined part way through and squished in between Hermione and Neville, throwing his arm around her as well.

"This is Blaise, everyone," Theodore said and smiled happily in the direction of his friend. "He's a musician, and some say he's so gorgeous it's cruel."

"Who says that?" Blaise said with a snort.

Theodore winked. "I do."

At that moment the music but out and the room quieted in a quick wave. The faces of her friends had all turned in one direction so she twisted around as best she could in the arms of Blaise and Theodore. Sheila and James had strode in and now stood in a small clearing, beaming around at all the guests. "Sorry to interrupt, but there are just two things we have to address now."

James held his arm out as a group of girls Hermione had never seen before walked into the room. "These are the winners of our competition and the special guests for tonight's party."

"It seems a bit late for them to join in now. It's nearly half past eleven." Blaise muttered beside her, but otherwise no one spoke and the girls remained huddled together.

"The second announcement is one regarding the show. Or rather, the teams." Sheila said and paused dramatically. The silence seemed to intensify. "As you know, there are now only two members of The Pansy Pickers, and four of The Bloody Fuckers. This is incredibly uneven."

A heavy weight settled in Hermione stomach.

"As of tomorrow, the teams will essentially be dissolved in competition." Hermione almost felt the redirection of air as people twisted around to find the house guests and take in their reactions to the news. "You will all remain a part of your team formally, however you will compete for yourself, and yourself only."

"And on that note, we bid you all adieu and have a good night!" James wiggled his fingers around at the people who still watched them as a buzz of chatter erupted, and the pair left the room.

"That's going to make things a bit different, isn't it?" Dean said, watching Harry and Ron with interest.

"We figured it would come to this," Ron answered with a shrug. "Or they would add Hermione to our team."

"Excuse me?" A strong voice came from behind Hermione and she turned back, coming face to face with someone she didn't recognize. "Can I get your autograph? I'm making a scrapbook."

"Erm…" She trailed off helplessly, staring at the empty page in front of her as the girl held out a pen. "I don't think I've really done anything that warrants an autograph."

"I'm a big fan." The girl said, and then added, "My name is Annie."

Under no circumstances did Hermione want her signature to be floating around the Wizarding World, or even the idea that she was open to becoming some kind of public figure.

"Take a photo together," Theodore commanded, reaching for the camera that was hanging around Annie's neck.

"Are you sure…?" Hermione trailed off as Annie's face exploded into a smile and she moved to stand beside the Gryffindor. Theodore snapped a photograph and then didn't stop, moving closer and closer until the camera was right in Hermione's face. "Right, that's fine I think—"

"Get one of Blaise and I!" Theodore reached a hand around and tugged Blaise over, smiling genially.

Annie had the expression of one who'd just discovered that she'd received all Os on her NEWTs.

"I'm going to get some water," Hermione said under her breath to Harry and slipped away from the group. Weaving her way through the bunches who'd gathered and darting through the makeshift dance floor she filled a glass with water at the kitchen sink. Instead of returning immediately to her friends she headed outside for some fresh air.

The garden was the perfect oasis and she wandered through the pathway, sipping the glass. The darkness seemed thicker near the ground and made the low-lying plants appear minty green near the tips.

"Granger?" Draco's voice startled her out of her musings and she looked up in surprise. His body was a dark shadow in the gazebo so, instead of turning back, she climbed inside and leaned against the wooden fencing beside him.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked, following his gaze to a sapling a few yards away.

"Just wanted a bit of fresh air," he answered, still looking at the tree as if it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. "I'd forgotten what it's like to be surrounded by so many people at once."

"Me too," she agreed, finishing her water. He didn't say anything more so she steeled herself and looked directly at him. "Did you hear the announcement about the teams?"

"Yeah," Draco answered without elaborating and _still _would not look at her. "I'm going back inside."

Before she could say anything else or even begin to accompany him he'd started off at a brisk walk and left her standing in the darkness of the gazebo's roof, watching him.

Hermione wasn't sure if everyone had had a lot to drink in her absence or returning from solitude was just an incredible juxtaposition to the inside atmosphere, but when she returned everyone was a lot rowdier than they'd been when she'd left. As she scanned the low lighting of the room for Harry and Ron she was approached by Blaise.

"You know what, Hermione?" His words were somewhat slurred and when he put his hand on her shoulder she wasn't sure if it was to make their communication more personable or to steady himself. "When we were first brought on the show I thought my mum had commissioned some people to kidnap and convert me—from being gay, y'know. So when I saw you, my first thought was 'Granger's a lesbian?'"

Her emotions couldn't decide between amusement at the story or incredible sadness at the premise, so she settled on a mix of the two. Luckily Blaise was amused enough for the both of them and he tugged her arm through his, giggling and wandering around the house.

The rest of the night progressed in similar fashion. Hermione had a few drinks with her friends, but stopped when the warmth in her stomach spread to her fingertips and she recognized, rationally, that things weren't quite as funny as she was finding them. For the most part she was able to push Draco's strange behaviour to the back of her mind and was disappointed when it was announced that the Night Bus had arrived for its scheduled stop at 2 AM to pick up their visitors.

She waited at the end of some sort of receiving line and said goodbye, first to her friends, and progressively to people she really only knew by association. By the time the last party-goer had hopped onto the step and the bus whizzed off her eyelids already felt heavy. She yawned into her elbow as she turned back to the five who stood behind her.

"I'm heading to bed," Hermione announced and Ron nodded in agreement, fighting back his own yawning.

"I feel wide awake," Theodore said, waving his arms around and giggling. "I'm practically Katy Perry at this point."

"I am decidedly not." Draco replied as Harry and Ron bid their adieus and headed back to their section. "I'm exhausted."

"I'll stay up with you a bit longer." Blaise offered as he waved tiredly in Hermione's general direction.

Draco seemed to hesitate a moment, throwing a sharp glance towards her. "I may stay up just a few minutes longer. When he's this pissed Theodore is usually a riot."

There was nothing Hermione wanted more in that moment than to push Draco into a chair and demand that he explain why he seemed so set on avoiding her. To refuse to let him move until he came up with some viable excuse for his strange behaviour. Instead she simply looked at him for longer than was typically appropriate, so long that there was no way he wasn't aware that she had certainly caught on to what he was doing, and then set off for bed.

**Thank you for the many wonderful music recommendations—I have some awesome new stuff. Here are some of my own recommendations for you! Band of Horses (The Funeral or Blue Beard are my favourites), Eminem (give Cinderella Man a listen if you aren't a huge fan), Snow Patrol (I literally love all their music, but try Set Fire to the Third Bar, You Could Be Happy, and This Isn't Everything You Are), Ed Sheeran (the music video for Lego House is amazing) and Jonsi (listen to Sinking Friendships, it's beautiful).**

**Thank you for reading! If you have any thoughts about what could be going on with anyone here—Draco, Theodore, Blaise, Hermione—let me know. I love hearing what you think! Please review!**


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